#meltotheany

[meltotheany]

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children, #9)by Seanan McGuire | ARC Review

Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop 1.) Every Heart a Doorway ★★★★★2.) Down Among the Sticks and Bones ★★★★★3.) Beneath the Sugar Sky ★★★★4.) In an Absent Dream ★★★★★5.) Come Tumbling Down ★★★6.) Across the Green Grass Fields ★★★★7.) Where the Drowned Girls Go ★★★8.) Lost in the Moment and Found ★★★★★ ARC provided by Tor – thank you so much !! “The door wasn’t there because…

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Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop “There are no gods here. Just those who pay for the privilege.” this was my first ever litrpg, so maybe that’s why i adored this extra, but my nerdy little heart really felt like it was falling down a tunnel of complete love alongside carl and princess donut fighting for their lives. the very basic premise of this already very beloved story, is that on a very snowy january night, in seattle, carl finds himself barely dressed and chasing after this trophy winning cat outside, which inadvertently saves both of their lives, when aliens come and all structures are instantly flattened. tet, tunnels are opened up for the surviving humans, so they can enter the very first level of a universally televised broadcast where they will be forced to go deeper and deeper, becoming stronger and stronger, to maybe have a chance at survival after all. carl and his kitty companion go, alongside ten million others, where they will learn about what has been forced upon them while learning new skills and abilities on this first level. and most importantly, they have a time limit of when they must find and enter the next level, because once the time is up, the level will be squished like all the infrastructure of earth when these tunnels opened up! and maybe, just maybe, with the help of a tutorial guide, a talk show host, a pr assistant, some healthcare workers (and their residents), and other crawlers they meet along the way, they will be able to find the limited entrances, enter the second level, and learn even more about what this ai and alien gauntlet! this might be the most obvious thing i could possibly write in a review, but – if you like video games, you will most likely like this. this story is filled with getting achievements, opening loot boxes, setting up your ui, patch notes and hot fixes, grinding xp in so many different ways (with so many different mobs), forming raid groups to take down bigger bosses, cleaning up your inventory, learning and leveling up new skills, and so much more. but if you also like dnd? oh, i am even more certain you will like this book. because you add everything i just said, but also see where people’s skill points are going, and watching them learn spells and level them up, and trying to figure out while classes they are most likely going to be (maybe like barefoot fighter monk or a very charming bard), oh it is such a treat. i also just want to say that if you enjoyed the concept of traveling through different levels, and finding different towns and communities, and being introduced to new side characters, i really recommend senlin ascends. it is a completely different type of book, but one that has always stuck with me because of the unique concept, and this is the closest thing i’ve ever found to the same feeling. again, wildly different stories, and main characters, and even settings, but that spark of unique concept is only shared between only those two in my mind! and i will also say that the overarching themes, and what the story is saying, (of capitalism and corrupt governing systems) are also similar, if you’re feeling like you want to read that extra in 2025! but yeah, i have read a lot of books, searching for that feeling of senlin ascends (and of the baths), and i have never found it… until now! “Part of a collective mind intent upon destroying any semblance of scientific progress in the universe, the Krakaren is the only communal brain entity in the galaxy who actually gets stu. pider as time moves on. Consisting of multiple shrieking tenta-cles, members of the Krakaren cooperative spend their days birthing their disease-laden minions, creating and selling harmful products, attempting to debate scientific experts, and proselytizing to the weak minded, all in an attempt to … Well, nobody knows what the hell their end goal is.” overall, i just loved this completely and i am so happy i am going to have a new series to hopefully keep falling in love with. i also want to say that i liked some of the...

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Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop okay, another long preface before i talk about this book, because i promise you that i went into this hoping i’d love it alongside so many readers! i love reading hyped books, especially ones that can evoke nostalgia for the books i grew up reading, and i extra love loving these stories alongside the book community. (example: fourth wing!) i also think that people are being extra weird with romantasy readers and reviewers in 2025, acting like it is somehow “lesser” reading, and i never want people to think that is something i believe – because i very much do not! and lastly, i truly went into this with the best expectations at heart, reading it alongside a few of my very best friends, hoping that we all would love it as much as so many other prereviewers had! But sadly, this really and truly is the worst book i’ve read all year. also, one very quick side note: with all the white dystopian comparisons going around – the concept also reminded me of the gods below (the hollow covenant, #1) by andrea stewart! which i really loved last year and highly recommend if this story didn’t work for you, but you like the world and the set up!) the very basic premise of silver elite is that this is a dystopian future of what i believe used to be earth, and many years ago a biotoxin killed most of the population, yet two different groups of people survived. the primes, who were just immune to the biotoxin. and then the modified, who were enhanced by the biotoxin and now have telepathic mind powers that very much differ in range and intensity. and our main character, wren, was given to a man to keep her safe when she was only five years old, because her parents could already tell that her powers were so strong, and because the primes want to control or kill all the modified people. also in this world, people who have these mind abilities normally show when they are using them by their veins appearing silver, but our main character is so powerful this doesn’t happen to her. therefore, after some very traumatic events, she is forced to leave her world of hiding and join a training center to maybe graduate and become a silver elite for the very empire who has ruined her life in every capacity. the truth of my hating this book is that wren is too stupid to actually live. i understand she is twenty, i understand people are just attracted to other people sometimes without rhyme or reason, and i understand that humans are allowed to make mistakes. but the amount of mistakes she made… i mean, i am hard pressed to think of a good choice she made the entire book. from trusting the people you have known for your entire existence want you dead, and who constantly show you they want your people dead. to constantly flip flopping and ultimately betraying your own people because you have a romance with someone who isn’t “as bad” as the rest of the people who want your kind dead. to not communicating well with any side and having it hurt your “friends” constantly. wren is truly the most insufferable character i’ve read in years. please use caution while reading this paragraph – i will be talking about a side character with spoilers for this book! there are obviously a lot of things that i did not like about this book but the thing that just made me feel really disgusted was how the character tana was treated. to have your character who is described to have “dark skin” be raped and then sent to a labor camp with her father, while having us believe that this is the best outcome the mc can do for her best friend… is beyond words disgusting. and then to have it never really brought up again, and to have the mc still trusting people who are complacent in a system that allowed this to happen to her best friend? i just can’t. i’m not saying she won’t save her friend in later books (i think this is somehow going to be a six book series), i’m not saying this wasn’t described as horrific while happening (it for sure was), but it ultimately was the re...

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Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop ♡ thank you so much, del rey, for sending me a finished copy! 1.) The Tainted Cup ★★★★★ “The ocean cannot tell the difference between a rich man and a poor one, nor one full of happiness, or despair. To those waves, all are so terribly small.” the tainted cup was my favorite publication of 2024, so i was beyond elated when this book showed up on my doorstep in 2025! and opening this book, and instantly being back with din and ana, just reminded me how beloved this book series already is to me and how it is probably my most anticipated current ongoing series. i know, right? a lot of praise, but it really is from my heart. the very basic premise of what this series is doing is that it is a genre blend of fantasy and mystery, where we follow two character, din and ana, who are very coded as sherlock and watson, while they try to solve murder mysteries in what very much feels like an attack on titan world, filled with walls and leviathans that attack those walls. yet, also in this world, people have medical augmentations that allow them to enhance themselves, with abilities to do things better, but at a cost. and in this second installment, we really get to see that cost with classes in this world. in this book, din and ana are visiting a town in the middle of trade negotiations, called yarrowdale, which is a port town, and it feels a little extra scary when the wet season is approaching and when leviathans attack walls in this world! but this town hasn’t experienced an attack in living memory, and they also have something called the shroud, which is a leviathan graveyard with a lot of mystery behind it. and maybe some more mystery will be added to it, because this story starts with dinios kol, an altered mind rememberer, traveling to this town to meet an officer and to see what is left of a body. and one moldy tower room later, ana dolabra comes to hopefully solve another case with din, and in a new city, where body parts are continuing to be found. this series really feels like a breath of fresh air for both of its blended genres and it really feels like magic to read. din and ana’s relationship really just means the whole world to me, and seeing them both trust more, listen more, and even love more is just so beautiful. am i crying over a scarf? yes!! also, malo is such an amazing side character, who i was feeling all the emotions constantly for. i really hope we get to see them again in more stories. but yeah, the characters, the story, the writing, the messages, the mystery, it’s really all so top notch and i just really recommend this series to everyone who has even somewhat similar reading tastes to me. other random things i loved about this story: din is for sure pan or bi and we just really love to see it, always. i also always will love an unsettling castle setting. i was obsessed with how we got more backstory in this second installment, and seeing more of these character’s pasts and how they are choosing to live in the present. i love the constant theme of patterns and how they are all around us, for better or worse, if we really begin to look. i love that this book looked at debt and the systems that want to keep people down and at the mercy of their leaders. and i very much love to appreciate the discussions around the corruption of government and how those in power are more than willing to treat the citizens they view as lesser, regardless of any and all costs. i truly love everything about this series, but i do feel like no one, and i mean no one, is writing author notes the way robert jackon bennet is writing author notes. both books in this series have heavily discussed classism, capitalism, and which groups of people thrive, and die, because of these things. But this author’s note, the final thing the reader is left with upon closing this book, really emphasizes how fantasy stories have treated autocracies. how such a majority of stories are written about one true heir, who is divine, and righteous, and des...

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Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop this is a really beautiful collection of short stories, all having the ebb and flow of the sea crafted seamlessly into them. i enjoyed this so much, that i actually think this solidifies that julie armfield is my newest favorite author, and i just hope she keeps giving the world (and me) her stories. down below i breakdown each individual story in this anthology collection, with the trigger and content warnings that i wrote down while reading! ━━♡ Mantis ★★★★ “I choose Greek myths and ghost stories, tales that come in under fourteen pages and culminate in violent lessons. I read aloud and let her stop me when she wants to – stories of swans and spiders, bay trees, narcissi, girls transformed into monsters by rivals playing dirty.” this was a very strong start to the anthology, and there is just something so insanely lulling about this author’s writing to me. it for sure reminded me of how much i loved our wives under the sea and it has really similar vibes at first, too! but this is a story about those transformative years, of being a girl and growing up surrounded by people and things that are also transforming you and the way you think and feel (about yourself and the world). shedding your childhood and growing into a body that is being dictated by others while you’re still in metamorphosis and learning what your truly want to transform into. and the ending was just great. plus, you all know i’m also going to love a growing up catholic backdrop on top of a really compelling story. cw/tw: this short story has a lot of talk of body image and parents and friends talking about the mc’s body image, also talk of weight and diet and starvation and food, talk of menstruation, blood, drinking, threat of sa, and i would also say just sickness in general with some body horror ━━♡ The Great Sleep ★★★★ “You don’t notice the way a city breathes until it changes its sleeping habits.” this is the type of story crafting where i am just impressively saying “wow, this is so cool, how did you think this up?” and then upon finishing my mind is going wild with metaphor meanings. but this is a tale of a wave of sleeplessness hits the world, and the people impacted now have a personification of their sleep that just kind of hangs out with them and makes life more annoying while they are more and more sleep deprived. and our mc finds comfort in her dreamlessness with someone in her apartment complex who is still able to sleep, even if she is constantly questioning why she hasn’t stopped along with most people. i feel like this instantly made me think of vegas, my current city, and how there is a magic to the restlessness that is pretty indescribable, even if you know it’s not the healthiest. but i think this story could be a metaphor for mental health, i think it could maybe be touching on abuse, or maybe how loneliness can feel all consuming. i think this might be about health and people saying wild shit as reasonings for serious things, or if could just be a cool story that i know will stick with me. i really enjoyed this one. cw/tw: things with sleep and the miserableness of being sleep deprived ━━♡ The Collectables ★★ “That’s the problem with kissing. In theory, when someone’s good at it, you should be able to keep kissing forever. But of course, forever is too long to do anything without getting bored.” three women living together, all friends trying to get their phds, who all have been hurt by men. and we get to see one of the women spiraling more and more with her line-drawn paper doll that she is adding bits slowly to. this wasn’t my favorite, sadly, but maybe that’s because my american ass has to google princess anne and then that really just set the tone for picturing the rest of the story in my mind lol. cw/tw: fire, drinking, smoking, suicide mention, heart attack mention ━━♡ Formally Feral ★★★ “The house opened around her the way you crack a chest cavity,...

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Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop “And when the Empire is weak, it is often because a powerful few have denied us the abundance of our people.” if you’re looking for a fantasy murder mystery that has a sherlock and watson dynamic, with a setting that feels like you were dropping into attack on titans, with themes of systemic injustice, and discussions on classism, with a story that follows a queer mc with a learning disability… well, i am here to tell you to please look no further in this world, the land is separated by rings, and those rings are walls that are constantly being reinforced to keep leviathans out and the people safe. especially the outermost wall, that is also constantly being manned by a military force. also in this world, people are able to get magical augmentations that enhance abilities – and there is a vast range of different augmentations from strength, to sight, or even memory. this land, these augmentations, and different sorts of technological advancements are constantly changing and evolving because of the flora and the importance of the array of plant life on this land. also, this story takes place right on the cusp of the wet season, where the land is less forgiving, alongside the leviathans trying to breach the walls. and if the leviathans do reach the shores, their blood and bodies have a very strange effect on the land and can make a place completely uninhabitable. and lastly, a murder rather unusual, involving the flora in this world, just happened and no one has any clues as to why or how, but the empire needs it solved before the wet season officially hits. this story follows an assistant to a detective, named dim, who is an engraver, which means he has an enhancement that allows him to remember everything he is seeing, and relay it back to his detective with 100% accuracy and certainty. this is because of an augmentation that he has, and he is able to extra anchor the memories with a vial of a fragrance he is able to tie the experience to. and truly, him exploring all of these places, and manors, and crime scenes, and attaching all of these clues to scent, was one of my favorite parts of this book. but the detective herself? oh, ana is the best character i’ve read in years! truly a new favorite for me! ana is a bit of a mystery herself throughout the book, so i don’t want to say too much, but she seems to be banished to the outer ring, but she needed a new assistant for a murder mystery in which she is very much needed to solve. and together we watch din and her work together and try to find the murderer(s), while more and more mystery ensues. this was just a really fresh story, and something that really pushed the bounds of both fantasy and mystery genres. yet, also combining both and making a really beautiful and harmonious experience for readers. this felt different to read, and special to consume, and it really surpassed absolutely every expectation i had prior to purchasing this book at b&n because i love the trend of covers being printed directly on hardcovers with no dust jackets. “Born into systems beyond our control, into relationships and organizations that obligate us to change, all so our families may prosper… That’s what the empire is, isn’t it?” to me, this story really also discusses themes of classism and social injustice, where the rich colonizers get to live in safety in the most inner walls, while also having the money to protect themselves from any and all things. while the essential workers who are trying to make all the walls and land a safer and better place are forced to work and live in unsafe conditions. and while people from impoverished communities are forced to give everything they have, in hopes that something will make it back to their families so they will be able to live a tiny bit of a better life. (please know, there is a lot more i want to say, but i won’t because of spoilers – but i really loved some of the themes and thoughts that i felt like were presented within this story!!) “If you ...

The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett | Review

[meltotheany]

oh hello, friends! i hope you’re doing well! and i hope you’re reading all the five star things! august was truly so good to me and i can’t wait to talk about all the things i was able to read! also… august is my birthday month! and you are about to read four dungeon crawler carl mini reviews, because i did ask for all the books for my birthday! (and feeling very thankful and blessed extra during this month because of these two things!) 💖 ✨ The Compound by Aisling Rawle ⭐⭐⭐ ♡ buddy read with maëlys + amy this is a thriller that is drawing a lot of inspiration from love island, because it stars a reality tv show being hosted inside a villa (aka a compound) where ten women and ten men will do challenges, get prizes, and be forced to couple up to stay inside the safety of the villa. and i use the word “safety” because outside of the compound’s walls, there is a dystopian mystery that has left the world as we know it in shambles. there are wars going on, climate change has accelerated past the point of any control, the healthcare system is even more in shambles, the housing crisis has reached new devastating levels, but capitalism is still thriving. we follow lily, as she is waking up alongside the other nine women on day one, and we continue to watch her navigate this reality, while struggling with feeling embarrassment of her past. yet, we also see her willing to do almost anything to stay in the safety of this televised production, where you are able to win food, water, construction supplies, and a ton of luxury gifts. some of these prizes are from group tasks, but sometimes they are from individual challenges, and you cannot talk about them with your costars. you’re also not allowed to talk about other things from the outside, like your job, until there are only five people left in the compound. and that is also when the rules against violence towards your costars are lifted. but if you break the rules before that, there will be consequences after the initial warning. okay, i think you probably get the idea and vibe of what is going on. it’s eerie and unsettling to read, but it also feels impossible to stop reading. i actually thought this was going to be a five star at the halfway mark, because of the themes of living in this consumerist world, where people just want more and more unapologetically, while the world is literally burning down around us. it really successfully executes the use of satire to show these broken systems, and how most people are just trying to live in this machine that just constantly takes and takes (>.< now i am going to be hearing hamilton while writing the rest of this review). unfortunately, the themes that started out so powerful, just started feeling a little redundant to me, and the story started to feel a little boring. again, i really respected and enjoyed what was being said. it was very thought provoking and just so very unique as a story in general. i just think the mystery of what was going on outside the compound really had me too curious. and again, i know this is not the point of this story, but i was left disappointed when turning that last page, simply because i just wanted a little bit of answers. i didn’t need to know everything, but i just needed something more. my mind was creating monsters, executions, alien producers… like lol i am insane. But i still highly recommend this one, especially if you like love island. oh, and lily is bi, and we also meet a few other queer cast members! (and i will admit to you here, that if this would have taken the sapphic route, whew, it would have at least been a four.) lastly, i just want to end this review by saying that, even through disappointment, i did enjoy the feeling at the very end of this, that we as humans do need connection, and community, and we can’t do all of this alone. trigger + content warnings: talk of war, talk of colorism + racism, talk of body image + food, mention of student teacher relationship in past, drowning (forcing someone underwater for a min for a chal...

[meltotheany]

hello, friends! i hope you’re doing well and having happy reading! i am finally writing up my 3rd quarter statistics to let you know how my reading went in july, august, and september! down below is an image of the 13 stories that i read, and if you want to check out my full reviews (with trigger and content warnings) please go to my goodreads or check out my monthly wrap ups on the blog! but i always love seeing three months of reading represented in stats – so let’s get into it! 💖 Q3 STATISTICS THREE FAVORITE READS OF Q3  (click title links for full reviews with detailed thoughts, feelings, and tw/cws!) ✨ The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett ⤷ sff murder mystery that gave me literally everything i’ve ever wanted ✨ Assassin’s Quest (Farseer Trilogy, #3) by Robin Hobb ⤷ the conclusion to the first series in this world, and it was actually perfect ✨ Icarus by K. Ancrum ⤷ another masterpiece that i’ll hold in my heart forever by this author Q3 BOOK HAUL  Q3 TBR UPDATES ☆ r/fantasy bingo  ⤷ i know this goes a few months into 2025, but i really want to finish it before the new year, if i am able! i should, at the very least, focus a little bit on that first row lol >.< ☆ my 2024 publications tbr ⤷ i have officially read 10/12 of this tbr! i only have mistress of lies and wind and truth left! whew, okay, i think that’s everything! i cannot believe we are now in the last quarter of this year. i truly feel like i still need to read so many books! but please let me know if you’ve had any stand outs this year, that you think i would enjoy, especially if its a 2024 release! and i am sending you and your families so much love! happy reading, friends!💖 ♡ 2024 quarter posts: q1 | q2 ♡ 2024 monthly wrap ups: jan | feb | march | april | may | june | july | aug | sep goodreads | instagram | youtube | kofi | spotify | amazon | wishlist

third quarter reading overview + statistics | 2024