Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
Happy Saturday, friends! I’m very excited to share my review for A Rose Among Thorns by Ash Fitzsimmons as part of the BBNYA blog tour hosted by The Write Reads.
Special thanks to the tour organisers for having me on tour and to the author for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!
The BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website or Twitter. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.
A Rose Among Thorns (Hall of Thorns #1)
Publication Date: 19 April 2022
Genre: Adult Cosy Fantasy Mystery
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
Rose Thorn should never be left unsupervised around plants. Potted things tend to die around her as if on principle. But when her great-aunt calls and asks Rose to watch her garden nursery for a few days, Rose can hardly say no. After all, Aunt Lily is the closest thing Rose has to a grandmother — and the only family she has left — so Rose doesn’t mind driving out to her tiny mountain town to look after the place.
Aunt Lily never mentioned anything about an inspection, however.
Rose is taken aback when an agent from an organization she’s never heard of arrives and panics to find Aunt Lily missing. As it turns out, Aunt Lily hasn’t been entirely straight with Rose. She’s not visiting a sick friend — she’s in danger and on the run. She keeps a hidden greenhouse on the property in which she grows highly regulated magical plants. And she’s an elf…as was Rose’s grandfather.
Though stunned to witness magic at work and shocked that no one ever divulged the family secret, Rose refuses to abandon the nursery until her great-aunt is safely home. But as she and the agent, now awkward housemates, try to keep up their cover story and find the missing grower, they realize that whatever led to Aunt Lily’s disappearance might not be the only magical crime in progress.
And while Rose has no green thumb, another talent of hers may be budding…
Kidnapping, captivity, death of parents (recounted), bullying (recounted), gun violence, imprisonment, compulsion (magical)
TL;DR: A Rose Among Thorns is a great beginning to a cosy fantasy mystery series. The characters were entertaining, the banter was pretty cheesy but so fun, and the fantasy elements were rather light, making it perfect for those who want to read more fantasy but don’t want to get bogged down by expansive world-building. It has great appeal for a wider audience and I can see why it got second place in the BBNYA competition! 😍 I enjoyed this much more than the start led me to expect and I’m keen to continue with the series!
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Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1)
Publisher: Solaris
Pub Date: 14 October 2022
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Panda Rating:
(4.5 pandas)
The first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.
A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.
Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.
Slavery mentioned, abandonment, child abuse & neglect, emotional & physical abuse. suicide, alcoholism, alcohol consumption & abuse, drug use, blood depiction, physical injury, beheading, graphic dismemberment, forced blinding, scarring, grief & loss depiction, death of a parent, death of a child, mass murder, poisoning, kidnapping, physical assault, imprisonment, cults, animal death
TL;DR: Holy grandfather crow! This was amazing and I’m kicking myself for putting it off for so long. I don’t even know where to begin because everyone else seems to have already said it best but I will say that I 100% get the hype. Black Sun is a testament to Roanhorse’s brilliance as a writer. She has a great ability to create culturally rich, diverse and spellbinding epic fantasy worlds, and compelling well-rounded characters. It was so easy to immerse myself in the setting and by the end, I was fully invested in our character’s arcs. I can’t wait to see what happens next! 😍
Read More » Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
Heartless (Chestnut Springs #2)
Pub Date: 14 October 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:
(4.5 pandas)
Working as a nanny for the world’s grumpiest single dad should have been simple. Except I can’t keep my eyes off him. And he can’t keep his hands off of me.
Cade Eaton is thirteen years older than I am and barely looks my way. Until I get him into the hot tub one night for a game of truth or dare. Then all bets are off—and so are our clothes.
He’s gruff, a little rough around the edges. But broad-shouldered ranchers with calloused hands and filthy mouths are this city girl’s kryptonite. So who am I to resist?
But it’s in our quiet moments together that he softens. It’s when he takes care of me that I realize his hardened exterior is just a façade. It’s when I watch him go all sweet with his little boy that I really fall for him.
Someone convinced him once that his best wasn’t good enough. But I’ve never felt more cherished than I do in his arms.
My contract may say this arrangement is only for two months.
But my heart says this is forever.
TL;DR: I can honestly say that I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did. I wasn’t a big fan of Cade in book one—as let’s just say his actions and words didn’t inspire much attraction—but this book flipped that script and boy howdy, did I love it! 😍 Their chemistry was great, the banter had me giggling, the romance was sexy and sweet, and a wonderful family dynamic shines through in this book. My favourite in the series thus far!
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Flawless (Chestnut Springs #1)
Pub Date: 24 June 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:
(4 pandas)
The rules were simple… Keep my hands off his daughter and stay out of trouble. But now I’m stuck with her… And there’s only one bed… Oh well, rules are made — to be broken… aren’t they?
I’m the face of professional bull riding — the golden boy.
Or at least I was, until it all blew up in my face.
Now my agent says I have to clean up my image, so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my “full-time supervision.”
But I don’t need a goddamn babysitter —
especially one with skin-tight jeans, a sexy smirk,
and a mouth she can’t stop running.
A mouth I just can’t stop thinking about…
Because Summer isn’t just another conquest.
She sees the man behind the mask, and she doesn’t run—she pulls me closer, even when she shouldn’t.
She says this means nothing—but I say this means everything.
She says there are boundaries we shouldn’t cross.
That my reputation can’t take any more hits — and neither can her damaged heart.
I say I’m going to steal it anyway.
TL;DR: I can see why this is such a popular romance. I enjoyed their hate-to-love dynamic and how they got to know each other. Despite moments in the end when both characters irritated me with their decisions and drama, Summer and Rhett complemented each other well. This was a lot steamier than I expected but overall, a fun small-town cowboy romance!
Read More » Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
Hi friends, as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours I’m excited to share my thoughts on We Are Big Time by Hena Khan and illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui! Special thanks to the TBR team for having me on tour and to Knopf Books for Young Readers for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Click the banner above or here to check out the other incredible bloggers on the blog tour!
We Are Big Time
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 6 August 2024
Genre: Middle Grade/Young Adult Graphic Novel
Rep: Muslim, Pakistani, Ghanian, Somalian, Malaysian, Asian, African
Rating:
(5 pandas)
SWISH! Cheer courtside for a Muslim teen as she joins an all-girls, hijab-wearing basketball team and learns that she’s much more than a score. This energetic graphic novel is inspired by a true story!
Aliya is new to Wisconsin, and everything feels different than Florida. The Islamic school is bigger, the city is colder, and her new basketball team is…well, they stink.
Aliya’s still excited to have teammates (although the team’s captain, Noura, isn’t really Aliya’s biggest fan), and their new coach really understands basketball (even if she doesn’t know much about being Muslim). This season should be a blast…if they could just start to win. As they strengthen their skills on the court, Aliya and the Peace Academy team discover that it takes more than talent to be great–it’s teamwork and self-confidence that defines true success.
For fans of The Crossover and Roller Girl, this graphic novel goes big with humor and heart as it explores culture and perceptions, fitting in and standing out, and finding yourself, both on and off the court.
Islamophobia, microaggressions, racism, anxiety
TL;DR: I knew I was going to enjoy We Are Big Time but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. There is so much to appreciate about this graphic novel and the wholesome, heartwarming story it tells about finding your place and believing in yourself. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a diverse coming-of-age sports-centred story about the underdogs! These girls will win your heart and the art will have you feeling like you’re sitting courtside cheering the Peace team on as they play their best game.
Read More » Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
I just got around to posting my June wrap-up and it’s now time for July’s! This month had more going on than June but the latter half slowed down considerably. My brother’s wedding reception took place at the start of the month and that was lovely. I wrote a bit about it in this post if you want to see some pictures from the day! 🌻 Unfortunately, after that I got knocked out by a severe throat infection for a week. I couldn’t swallow for days and it took much longer than anticipated for me to bounce back. I’m doing okay now though and for the rest of the month, I’ve just been focusing on getting through the work days and restarting my Animal Crossing game play! 💜
On the gaming front, I’ve also been loving Potion Permit, an open-ended cosy fantasy RPG where you play a chemist from the big city stationed in a small countryside town. There are tons of quests, ingredients to collect, areas to explore, potions to brew, and friends to make. It’s got Stardew Valley style pixel graphics and a similar game play (also to Harvest Moon/SoS). I’ve been playing it on Switch and taking my sweet time with it cos I don’t want it to end! 😂
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