#labyrinth's library

[labyrinths-library]

Book 93 of 2024

Death by Laura Thalassa

★★★★★

Find the author here. Find the books here.

Pages: 547

Genre: Romance

Spice Level (out of five):

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Review:

Thanatos and Lazarus are life and death as lovers. She is the girl who cannot die and everything he touches dies. Honestly, he was the most frustrating horseman in terms of not being willing to quit his duty for the woman he supposedly loves. He wanted Laz and also death to the entire human race and he couldn't have both. Although this is Death's book, this is also the convergence of all the other books. You get to see all the other three horsemen together and the antics of the three "brothers" was my favorite part of this whole book. It made me want just a slice of life series of them all getting along. It was also the first time the time gaps between each horsemen really gets you. I mean, the books tell you that there's a time jump each time, but you really see it in the description of the previous horsemen how much time has passed and how that has changed them. Also the like "power of the p*ssy" lives in my head rent free now.

[labyrinths-library]

Book 102 of 2024

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

★★★★★

Find the author here. Get the book here.

Pages: 428

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Romantasy

Spice (out of five):

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Trigger Warning:

Ophelia has a form of OCD that manifests in a negative voice in her head that threatens death and other horrible outcomes if she does not do something at that exact moment. Smith suffers from OCD and has a whole note about it in the back of her book.

Review:

Ophelia Grimm is a necromancer who takes on the mantle of the family's magic after her mother dies. She and her sister then are told that their house is being foreclosed on. Once in a blue moon, a house called "Phantasma" drops into various locations. Anyone can enter, few will exit. Contestants fight through levels based on the different levels of hell to be the last one standing and receive a boon of their choosing from the Prince of Devils who runs the whole thing. People who don't make it to the end either die in the house, forfeit before the levels, or sell bits of their soul for help during the levels. When Ophelia's sister disappears, she knows that her sister has entered this competition. She then decides to go after her into the house and has to make it through 7 levels before she can even see if her sister actually entered the competition. While in there she meets a Phantom named Blackwell and makes a deal with him for help in exchange for her either breaking the curse that keeps him trapped in the game or ten years of her life. Ophelia battles through the levels while also battling her inner OCD demon and her growing feelings for Blackwell, because everyone knows that love is forbidden inside Phantasma.

Book one in a new series by Kaylie Smith. I've seen this book described as smutty Danny Phantom meets a hellish Olympics/Hunger Games. I absolutely adored this book. It is great, great, GREAT spice, like HOT DAMN. Delicious. It was more than just that, though. The plot was really entertaining. The world building was really cool. The ending was a twist. When it comes down to it, Blackwell is one of my new book boyfriends. I made it to reading about level nine before immediately preordering book two in the series, Enchantra, set to drop Spring 2025.

[labyrinths-library]

Book 91 of 2024

War by Laura Thalassa

★★★★★

Find the author here. Find the books here.

Pages: 535

Genre: Romance

Spice Level (out of five):

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Review:

Book two of the series, this is a classic example of he fell first mixed with Enemies to Lovers. Point blank: Miriam and War give me life. Every time he called her "wife" I think a bit of me melted. The fact that he was physically brutal with everyone but Miriam and even was overprotective of her was just... chef's kiss.. Gave off touch her and die. This one does take place in the Middle East which is wild considering the current political climate, but it ends with a happy ending so do with that information what you will.

[labyrinths-library]

Book 89 of 2024

The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen

★★★★★

Find the author here. Get the book here.

Pages: 509

Genre: Romantasy

Spice (out of five):

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Review:

It's the Hunger Game meets Percy Jackson. It's got forbidden romance between god and mortal. It's got the drama of the gods. Essentially every 100 years there is a crucible in which the gods all pick one champion to fight for them in a deadly Olympic games where the winner determines which god or goddess will rule until the next crucible. Lyra, a thief in the order of Hermes, gets chosen by Hades as his champion, which throws the entire game into chaos because Hades never plays. Not to mention, no one wants him to win because he is the king of the Underworld and people don't know what would happen if he wins. That would be too much power. This book is so fast paced that I couldn't put it down. It is the first book in a series so I am chomping at the bit for book 2. If you enjoyed the song God Games from EPIC, you'd probably like this book, because it feels like that on crack.

[labyrinths-library]

Book 83 of 2024

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

★★★★

Find the authors here (Brodi Ashton), here (Cynthia Hand) and here (Jodi Meadows) . Find the book here.

Pages: 493

Genre: YA Fantasy

Review:

First of all, some background on this series. These three authors met when their agents sent them on a book tour together and became fast friends. They decided to write books together so each book has three POVs and they're all so lovely. They call themselves the Lady Janies They have rapidly become one of my favorite series of all time.

My Lady Jane is about the Lady Jane Grey, the 9 days queen of England. However the Lady Janies are very upfront that this is not normal history like in your textbooks and they've rewritten it as they see fit. We go through the POV of Jane, her eventual husband G (he's a horse), and Jane's cousin King Edward. If you're coming into this from the tv series, it does not match up perfectly, but I found this to be a fun read and I enjoyed it.

[labyrinths-library]

Book 42 of 2024

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

★★★

Find the author here. Find the book here.

Thank you to @wella333 and @stripedroseandsketchpads for bringing this to my attention. As of October 2024, Mr. Gaiman is involved in a series of allegations of sexual assault and harassment going back to the 1980s that we know of. There is a very blunt Rolling Stones article about it here. A "Master" podcast by tortoise media here. And a gentler podcast here. I read this book and one other before the allegations came to light in the summer of 2024. If you have to read a book by this author, I'd suggest utilizing your local library or buying secondhand to ensure that the money doesn't go back to the author. And if you or someone you know have been a victim of sexual assault please call the hotline at 800 656 4673.

Pages: 301

Genre: Myth/Legend

Review:

It was a book of super cool takes on the myths from Norse legends. It was easy to digest and read, and very entertaining. I already loved Loki because of Marvel, but these made me love him even more because he is literal chaos.

[labyrinths-library]

Books I started and need to finish

This is a call out post on myself.

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea

Beep

Lavinia

That one word book that I bought in Provincetown that's sitting on my kitchen table

The Philosophy of Tolkien

[labyrinths-library]

Book 106 of 2024

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

★★★★

Find the author here. Find the book here.

Pages: 370

Genre: YA Fantasy

Review:

Jude moves into the world of the fae when she is 7 after her parents are murdered by her mother's ex-husband. However, Jude and her twin sister are human, unlike their older sister. Jude has learned the ways of the fae over the years and wants to belong. She is constantly ridiculed by Cardan, the youngest prince of her kingdom. Jude, in an effort to make something of herself, pledges herself to the candidate for the crown, Prince Dain, and receives a geas of being free from ensorcellment in return for her service. On the night of Prince Dain's coronation, his brother stages a hostile takeover and kills most of their family. Jude kidnaps Cardan, the last of the royal line and the only person who can crown the new king, and attempts to figure out how to spin the situation in the way that best benefits her.

After seeing so much about Jude and Cardan on the internet, I decided to finally read the series. I understand the hype. Jude is badass. I love how she outmaneuvered things into her advantage on multiple occasions, showing that humans are severely underestimated by the fae. I'm curious to see how Cardan and Jude will work together for the remainder of the series.

As a side bar, Black has some really good writing advise and resources. You can find them here.