Book Review: House of Earth and Blood

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas 🎧

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 Star Rating

The Summary:

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.

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It’s safe to say that what Sarah J Maas thinks is sexy/romantic and what I think is sexy/romantic are not the same thing. 

😬

Cringey sex scenes and inner monologues about how much dirty sex one character wants to have with the other character aside, this is the best SJM book I’ve ever read. I personally found the writing of all of the ACOTAR books to be super lazy and admittedly only decided to give the Crescent City series a chance as a direct result of peer pressure, but I liked this more than expected.

🤷🏻‍♀️

I should also clarify that this is four stars compared to other Sarah J Maas books I’ve read. If I had to rate it without overlooking the cringe level of the “romance” aspects and all the swearing for the sake of swearing, it would be a solid three stars for me. However, I am willing to add the extra star simply because I knew full well what I was getting myself into with a book written by Maas. She has yet to deviate from a very distinct formula - only the characters and settings seem to change, but the key elements of the story remain the same.

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I keep hearing that the second book in this series has an EPIC ending, so I’m definitely going to press on and read House of Sky and Breath soon. Also because Ruhn Danaan.

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Book Review: A Letter to Three Witches

A Letter to Three Witches by Elizabeth Bass 🎧

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5/5 Star Rating 

The Summary:

Bewitched meets Practical Magic in this sparkling and quirky rom-com with an enchanted twist. When romance problems cause their powers to go berserk, a trio of witches whose family was banned from practicing magic risk getting in serious trouble with the Grand Council. Can they get their magic—and their love lives—in order before it’s too late?

 

🧹🧙🏻‍♀️🧙🏻‍♀️🧙🏻‍♂️

I absolutely loved this book! So many rom-com novels follow the same recipe these days  and it has become just plain boring to me. This story was a new, fresh idea and was executed flawlessly.  I also appreciate how A Letter To Three Witches was a ”spice free” read without sacrificing the chemistry between the two characters with the burgeoning romance. Above all else, I had no idea what an enjoyable ride this book would be and I particularly loved the witty dialogue & hilarious hijinks our three witches got up to. 

Thank you 🙏🏻 to the author along with NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio arc in exchange for my honest review. 

Book Review: Under the Whispering Door

 Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune 🎧

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5 Star Rating

The Summary:

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.

Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mount'ains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop's owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.

But Wallace isn't ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo's help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

🫖☕️

This book was an absolute unexpected delight! It’s the first book I have read by T.J. Klune and has inspired my decision to read more.  It tackles some heavy topics and the overall theme is beautiful, but dang, was it funny!  I mean, these characters were so perfectly quirky, that their dialogue and interactions with one another were an absolute riot at times.  I’m not sure what I was expecting a “T.J. Klune novel” to be, but this wasn’t it.  I did not expect to find myself laughing out loud while listening to this audiobook, but it happened numerous times.  It speaks volumes about the brilliance of a book when it is equal parts thought-provoking and hilarious.  I very much enjoyed this audiobook and will be adding The House in the Cerulean Sea (also by Klune) to my TBR list for March. 

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Book Review: The Crowns of Croswald

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night📱

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 Star Rating 

The Summary: 

In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret...

For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken.

Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems.

When Ivy’s magic - and her life - is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.

🪶✨

I absolutely enjoyed this book!  It’s marketed as a middle grades fantasy, which isn’t a genre I am usually drawn to, but this book appeals to all ages.  The world building is flawless and the setting was somewhat reminiscent of Hogwarts, to me. That is NEVER a bad thing, in my opinion.✨

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Ivy’s story reminds the reader that our self worth is not always reflected in worldly possessions. Even when we live a humble existence, we can still be destined for greatness.

The Crowns of Croswald is an ongoing series, with the fourth book’s pub date just around the corner. This first book in the series gets a definite recommendation from me for anyone who is into the magical fantasy genre. An absolute must if, like me, you have a child who falls into that middle grades category. My son and I will definitely be finishing this series together!

Thank you 🙏🏻 to the author along with Stories Untold Press and NetGalley for the free digital copy in exchange for my honest review 💜

 

First Book Review of 2022: Wizard’s First Rule

 

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind 🎧

⭐️⭐️2/5 Star Rating

I hate to kick the year off with a negative review, but there were just so many things I found wrong with this book! The writing was mediocre with too much repetition and dialogue that often fell flat. This was an audiobook listen for me so I initially wondered if the narrator was causing my concern with dialogue, but the verbal exchanges between characters seemed more and more ridiculous as time wore on. I felt that the world building was sufficiently done, but the author failed to make me care one iota about any of the main characters.  I wanted to LOVE this book after being told by more than one person to check out the Sword of Truth series, but I didn’t even like it.  There was nothing truly original about the storyline and it could have benefited from a serious editing pen to tidy up the amateurish writing and cut some completely useless chunks of the plot that went on for seemingly endless chapters in the last quarter of the book. 

🧙🏻‍♂️•🐉•🏰

Mages, dragons, and fantastical realms generally tickle my fancy, but the first book in this SEVENTEEN volume series was unfortunately not enough to pique my interest. If you are made of stronger stuff, maybe you’ll be able to soldier on through the next few books to see if the author redeems himself, delivering an overall enjoyable fantasy book series.  

I’m not that girl.