#lauren steven

[surfeit-of-stoats]

And so, in the absence of any abiding religious convictions, this was the one blind faith I had: that love was a physical force, and it was never wasted. Once it was called out into the universe, it would echo back to us forever.

— Our Infinite Fates, Lauren Steven

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨

Silvercloak by LK Steven

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

QOTD: Have any authors popped into your favourites list this year?

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Thank you so much to Penguin Australia for providing me with an eARC of this one. All thoughts are my own.

This book was absolutely incredible. All the enemies to lovers romantasy + morally grey MC fans need to jump on this ASAP.

This is such a wild ride from start to finish. The world building is absolutely incredible, with a unique magic system relying on pleasure and pain, and a rich magical history woven throughout. Combined with an undercover mission plot, this book was never for a moment dull.

Saffron, our MC, is so interesting. Shaped by grief and a desire for revenge, she generally believes herself to be good, but the events of this book force her to confront many truths about herself and what she’s willing to do.

The romance is a slow burn full of twists and turns, lies and half-truths, and so much pain, longing and betrayal.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

[starrlikesbooks]

Check out these books for some summer reading! Here are just a few of the great books dropping in July.

As always, check under the cut for more on each~

The Society for Soulless Girls by Lauren Steven is a sapphic YA retelling of Jekyll & Hyde with some dark academia thrown in! The whole aesthetic of this book seems great!

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher is also a retelling! But this one is adult, and adapts Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. As a big Poe fan I'm looking forward to seeing what Kingfisher does with this! That's also just such a striking cover it makes me need to hold it.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia has the Mexican Gothic author taking a spin at the story of Doctor Moreau and his unethical, somewhat magical experiments. I've always had sort of a strange fascination with Moreau, and I'm sure Moreno-Garcia's lush and haunting writing is going to make this a whole experience.

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey is the first non-retelling or adaptation on this list! This is a haunted house story of complicated, tainted love for killers, and if that wouldn't be enough to get you excited, this is by the fabulous couldnt't-miss-to-save-their-life Sarah Gailey!

Youngblood by Sasha Laurens is a sapphic vampire story of social pressure, mystery, and friends-to-enemies-to-lovers! It's also one of the few books on this list I've already read- and the recipient of one of the two 5-star ratings I've actually given this month!

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows is another I've already gotten to read! This is a queer (mlm) romance between two princes in an arranged marriage, dealing with no just the newness of each other and their relationship, but assassination attempts and one of their slow healing from the trauma of assault. This is heavy at times, but if you want good communication and a healthy relationship, look no further.

Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen could easily fit into the "retellings" category, but it doesn't actually retell one single thing. This is a dark, romantic fantasy inspired by multiple fairytales, creating a new one altogether. If you like the morally gray and seeking power girl and dynamics similar to the in The Cruel Prince, you'll probably fun with this!

The Witchery by S. Isabelle is a YA debut with 6 witchy main characters setting out to fight monstrous Wolves. This is a diverse fantasy full of secrets and hefty consequences.

[surfeit-of-stoats]

One poem described Arden’s heart as a haunted house surrounded by a moat of their own digging. It cast their stoicism in a new light, made me think that perhaps they hated the way they had become, so closed off and unfeeling, but that it was less painful than the alternative: letting themselves love, with the knowledge it could only end one way. I thought of my own preemptive grief, the way I doggedly rehearsed loss as though it somehow protected me from the inevitable pain, and I thought maybe Arden had a point. Almost everyone I had ever loved was dead, and the hurt never went away; I just learned to exist alongside it.

Yet, for better or worse, I always let myself love anyway. Call it courage, call it insanity; both would be correct.

— Our Infinite Fates, Lauren Steven

[surfeit-of-stoats]

Silence settled around us, pulling the air taut. When digging into the permafrost to make a grave, you had to be careful not to hit a pocket of methane or it’d cause an explosion severe enough to crater the ground. This conversation felt like that: the quiet devastation of digging a grave, made infinitely worse by the threat of detonation.

— Our Infinite Fates, Lauren Steven

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

📚 CONNECT FOUR 📚

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Books pictured:

- The PERFECT Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

- PERFECT on PAPER by Sophie Gonzales

- GIRLS of PAPER and Fire by Natasha Ngan

- The Society for Soulless GIRLS by Laura Steven