BBNYA Blog Tour Spotlight: Perception Check by Astrid Knight

Happy Sunday, friends! As part of the BBNYA blog tour hosted by The Write Reads, I’m very excited to spotlight the BBNYA 2023 winner Perception Check by Astrid Knight. I’ve had this on my radar since last year and I can’t wait to read it when my schedule clears up! 😊

Special thanks to the tour organisers for having me on tour!

About the Book Blogger’s of the Year Award (BBNYA)

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.

Perception Check (The Mages of Velmyra Saga #1)
Publication Date
: 24 May 2022
Genre: New Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Her favorite tabletop roleplaying game is real, and her kidnapped childhood best friend is trapped in a far off land. Will she be able to save her? Let’s roll initiative!

Violet Spence wants nothing more than to have a normal life. After witnessing her childhood best friend get abducted by monsters, that’s easier said than done. At twenty-three years old, Violet cannot seem to move past that fateful night ten years ago. Her only solace is Mages of Velmyra, a tabletop roleplaying game filled with goblins, fairies, and all-powerful magicians. But of course, that’s all fantasy.

Or, so she thought. As it turns out, the land of Velmyra is very real and the home of the monsters that took her best friend.

With the help of her friends (and the creator of the game itself), Violet must navigate the once-fictional creatures and powerful mages of Velmyra to retrieve a set of ancient relics—all in the hopes that the journey will lead her back to her friend. But for Violet, fighting monsters and magic workers doesn’t seem nearly as terrifying as confronting her own demons. And she’ll soon realize fighting the battle within herself can be just as tough as those fought against demigods.

Perception Check is the magical first installment of the Mages of Velmyra Saga, great for fans of Dungeons and Dragons, Critical Role, and The Magicians. With endearing and hilarious characters, an exploration of mental health and trauma, LGBTQ+ representation, gut-wrenching twists, and a whirlwind of an ending, you will never want to leave the world of Velmyra.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Perception Check deals with the topics of mental health (specifically depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidality) with mentions of childhood sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and animal violence.

📚 BUY A COPY
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BBNYA Blog Tour Review: Accused by M.N. Jolley

Hello, hello friends! I’m so excited to be back for another blog tour hosted by @The Write Reads for third place BBNYA 2021 finalist Accused (KC Warlock Weekly #1) by M.N. Jolley. Don’t forget to check out all the other bloggers participating in this tour: here or click on the banner below! 😍

*Find out more about the BBNYA competition at the end of my post!*

Special thanks to the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads: Accused (The KC Warlock Weekly #1)
Publish Date: 03 November 2020
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Mystery

Panda Rating:

(3 pandas)

My name is Levi. I’m a journalist, I’m autistic, I’m bad at magic, and I swear I didn’t kill her.

Research for the paper usually falls into a few basic patterns. Someone in the city says there’s a troll under Buck O’Neil Bridge, or they’ll call just so a friendly ear will listen to them complain about a pixie infestation.
That sort of content carries me through slow news weeks. It’s rare that I uncover a murder.
Being framed for murder, though? That’s a first.

With the Wizard’s Council hunting me for a crime I didn’t commit, I’ve got no choice but to solve the murder and clear my name. If I don’t unravel this case, nobody will, and I’ll go down for it so hard I might never see the light of day again

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BBNYA Blog Tour Review: Beneath Cruel Fathoms by Anela Deen

Hello, hello friends! I’m so excited to be back for another blog tour hosted by @The Write Reads for BBNYA 2021 finalist Beneath Cruel Fathoms by Anela Deen. Don’t forget to check out all the other bloggers participating in this tour: here or click on the banner below! 😍

*For those who want to know more about BBNYA more information about the competition can be found at the end of my post!*

Special thanks to the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads: Beneath Cruel Fathoms
Publisher: Fine Fable Press
Publish Date: 17 May 2019
Genre: Adult Fantasy, Romance Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

After a violent storm destroys her ship, Isaura Johansdottir knows better than to hope she’ll be rescued from Eisland’s vast Failock Sea. Adrift and alone, her plans to start over lost, it’s a tragic conclusion after the disastrous end of her marriage—until she’s saved by Leonel, one of the merfolk, a creature long believed extinct. In repayment for her life, Leonel enlists her help to investigate the Failock’s mysterious and deadly plague of squalls. But when Isaura discovers Eisland’s ruthless new Lord commands the storms, her life will be in more danger on land than it ever was at sea.

As guardian of the Fathoms, Leonel must find the cause of unnatural storms ravaging the tidal currents and destroying the sea life. There are rumors of dark magic stirring in the Orom Abyss, the resting place of old, vanquished gods who tried to submerge the land millennia ago. Yet without proof, no one in King Ægir’s court will listen to him. And if it’s discovered he broke the Blue Laws to save a shipwrecked landweller, he might not survive the consequences.

As storms spread, Leonel and Isaura uncover secrets as forbidden as the bond that grows between them. Betrayal lurks in the restless sea, and when ancient powers lay siege to Eisland’s coast, the truth may be drowned along with everything else

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Blog Tour Review: The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King

Hello, hello friends! I’m so excited to be back for another blog tour with @TheWriteReads today for the 2020 BBNYA Winner: The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King. Be sure to check out all the other bloggers participating in this tour: here! 😍

I received this book to read and review as part of the BBNYA 2020 competition and/or the BBNYA tours organised by the @The_WriteReads tours team. Special thanks to for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!

More information about about BBNYA available at the end of my post for those who want to know more, especially authors!

Goodreads: The Lore of Prometheus
Publisher: Fallen Leaf Press
Published: 10 December 2018
Genre: Urban Paranormal Fantasy, Military Fiction
Panda Rating:

(3.75 pandas)

John Carver has three rules: Don’t drink in the daytime, don’t gamble when the luck has gone, and don’t talk to the dead people who come to visit.

It has been almost five years since the incident in Kabul. Since the magic stirred within him and the stories began. Fleeing the army, running from the whispers, the guilt, and the fear he was losing his mind, Carver fell into addiction, dragging himself through life one day at a time.

Desperation has pulled him back to Afghanistan, back to the heat, the dust, and the truth he worked so hard to avoid. But there are others, obsessed with power and forbidden magics, who will stop at nothing to learn the truth of his gifts. Abducted and chained, Carver must break more than his own rules if he is to harness this power and survive

BUY NOW: Book Depository | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (US) | Barnes & Noble

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