Someone should've filmed me during my reading process as I was freaking out every five seconds!

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!
Incendiary totally suprised me and owned my heart, and I can't stop obsessing over it. Usually I'm very hesitant in terms of "royal fantasy" as I like to call it. Most of the times I have been underwhelmed by such stories as they follow the same structure, use the same good old YA tropes and are predictable. Not that I didn't enjoy one or the other, they just didn't blew me away. This book though? Killed me. And I was not expecting it!

So is this book so different to others? No, but also yes.

Generally it follows the same structure as many YA fantasy novels that involve a royal court and opression. A kingdom that want/does rule over the entire world? Check. A group of rebels that came from a kingdom long ago destroyed or opressed? Check. That group having the magic that needs to be forbidden or get rid off? Check. Killing being the olympic game of the villains (the opressing kingdom)? Check. A protagonist that has rare magic and therefore is different to the others? Check. A love interest that seems to be smart and the hero/ leader of the good ones? Check. Check. Check.

While nothing new has been invented with this book, it was the way each of these aspects have been executed that totally suprised me and made me obsess with the full story line. Staring from the worldbuilding, magic system to the characters and all the twist and turns this book kept me on edge and my head boiling making all these theories. (and boy did I cooked up tons of theories!)

To elaborate why this book despite the general known structure is so good, we gotta start with Ren. As all ties are connected to her. And I'm not even bothered.

It's to be expected that the protagonist of a story is the special snowflake to some extent. Same goes for Renata who among the Moria is capable of their rarest form of magic - which is the most feared and hated at the same time: stealing memories. Not just having access to them, completely being capable of stealing them to the extent of even leaving so-called "Hollows" behind: empty living bodies. And Ren has surely made a trail of hollows in her past.

That's where both - the worldbuilding and magic system - are so nicely tied to her. Kidnapped as a child, she spent a good amount of time in the palace, being used as the weapon by the enemy. Did she do it volunteerily? Yes. Did she know what she was doing? No, she was a child. This doesn't change anything about the mistrust and hatred she's being confronted with from the Whispers, a group of Moria rebels that have saved her from the palace and are working against the opressing kingdom. In fact, she seems to just be out of place with the rebels - the supposedly good guys in this story - as she might have been in the palace though she doesn't remember anything of that time. And that's where I started to become obsessive with the story. A girl that owns thousands of stolen memories? That by touching can turn you into a hollow? Not. Able. To. Access. Her. Own. And that from a time period that could be vital for the rebels as it was when she was a child in the palace. Every time, a memory tried to break the surface and Ren kept pushing it back I was screaming for information, my head bubbling some more. Ren seemed to be a vital key that could open new doors to the history of this world, and I wanted her to break the Grey - as she referred to the incapabiltiy to access her own memories.

But this isn't where my fascination with the magic system stopped. People who could persuade other, cast illusions, and read minds? Love it. But what I loved more was the physicality of it. Not only was their power amplified by metals like gold, copper, platinum, and silver, but also took a toll on them, and especially with the Illusionari and Robarí (like Ren) it was the act of touching that made their power possible. (Though I'm still convinced there is a no touchy all mighty twist to this.... HA!)

Just as Ren is tied to the magic system and worldbuilding, she was also tied to the characters we get to meet throughout the book. Admitting, I enjoyed the characters - especially because I find myself in a dilemma of trust and mistrust. As Ren was met with mistrust and hatred due to her powers, I couldn't help myself but keep questioning the intentions and words of her ebel unit. Which made the storyline so much more intersting fo rme as the supposedly good ones didn't seem good enoguh for me - and let's be honest, purely good and purely bad sides are kinda boring. And that's definitely something the book twisted into a very confusing but amazing perception. We knew Ren trusted these people, but I still kept questioning their actions. Even Dez - the love interest - whom I enjoyed as a character and his relationship to Ren was beautifully exectued, wasn't able to gain my trust from the beginning. At some point, I kept questioning everyone except Ren. And it doesn't stop with the supposedly good people, but also with the villains of the story. While it was quickly clear to me who I have to hate, I also saw way too many hidden secrets of the "bad" guys to truly only see them as the monsters they were - and especially one wouldn't let my mind in peace: the prince. From the very beginning, I questioned his motives, and I craved to find out more about him. My head boiling up those theories.

In fact, the prince himself was a delight as a character. As the first character we properly meet in the tale he got me intrigued quite early on, and was the first characters whose secrets I wanted to have revealed. To follow Ren's journey of her revenge turned toward the prince was a journey not only of hopefully finding out more about him, but also hoping for a twisted turn in the romance department. (Well ... I guess I really like the bad guys, huh?)

It were these three aspects that were connected to Ren that made the plot a roller coaster that differs from other stories. Not only did we have an amazing worldbuilding where Ren needed to see the ties between kingdoms, recognize allies and try to find the real history (btw. Can the sequel please have a map? thank you very much), but also the way her magic plays into the plot, the importance of it but also the struggle with her own lack of remembering vital information, and the constant questioning of characters, motives made this a story a delight of its own. And I didn't even reach the part of all the twists and turns.

I have already mentioned that my head was steaming. One theory after another came up, and I couldn't stop looking for those bread crumbs of foreshadowing, which Zoraida Córdova placed nicely into the story, and tied them nicely together to big reveals that made me gasp for air! There was such a satisfaction when I realized that all my theories for this book came out to be true, which didn't stop my brain to come up with even more for the sequel (the list is already longer than it was before!). While I usually enjoy to taken by suprise, I actually loved how the bread crumbs were thoughtfully placed among the story, and truly lead us to all the destinations.

Honestly, I'm obsessed.

Overall, this story has done a fantastic job in using typical elements of YA royal fantasy but turning them into something amazing by presenting us with an amazing worldbuilding, a brilliant magic system, questionable realistic characters, and perfectly placed bread crumbs to follow for all the twists and turns!

Honestly guys. READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


and now ... can someone send me the sequel???? I've got bread crumbs (and Prince Caspian) to follow.

Check out the #BookTalkWithWifey November chat, where Chiara from @_ckarys and I discuss this book and talk about vampires in literature https://www.instagram.com/tv/B7qIG8Oghff/


This book is the proof on how false marketing could potentially destroy a good story instead of helping it. What I gather from most reviews is that people feel disappointed & disliked the book as it didn‘t meet ther expectations of being the vampire book that was promised. While I truly understand the disappointment, I have to say that this book deserves to be read.
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Despite not being the promised vampire book, this was definitely an unique & beautiful story set in historical New Orleans including just enough paranormal elements to make this book worthy of my time. Ahdieh‘s writing is beautiful & to some point poetical & fits the dark but magical atmosphere that should be an own character itself due to its liveliness.
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This story definitely works as an intense build-up to what is supposed to follow, which will definitely be a more vampire focused plot. I do appreciate the time Ahdieh took to create a more complex world than one would first believe it is. She transformed New Orleans in a place not only ruled by the dead but also by secrets & different clans that aren‘t easy to understand or see. Following Celine‘s POV, we struggle as her to see through the masks of the inhuman people around her, not knowing for sure who is a mere mortal or more. This makes the whole experience authentic & real, & makes me crave for the next book. Wanting to see how everything will unfold.
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This isn‘t a typical supernatural romance but more of a complex story that feels real & justified as it always bothered me how fast heroines discovered secrets of their vampire friends or love interests & were part of it. Trying to understand this from a more realistic point, it surely makes more sense that events would unfold the way they did in The Beautiful.
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All in one, this book is a great for the start of the vampire era coming back in literature as it dives deeper into the complexity, building up the world properly without giving away too much. Leaving the false marketing aside, this book is an unique way of creating a vampire story without following the usual „vampire-ish tropes“ but focusing on the emotions & relationships as well as on the worldbuilding and history!

WHERE IS BOOK THREE?

I'm saying what I'm saying - this series needs all the attention, and truly has the potential to become my all time favorite vampire story ever.

The Damned picks off shortly after the events of The Beautiful, and to say my expectations have been met would be an understatement. We did not only get the vampires we craved for in this sequel, but were presented with a much deeper understanding of the immortal and magical world that is part of this story. A world I was not expecting would exist in such a fashion, and has truly changed the game for the plot and characters - and for me. While The Beautiful was the story to make us fall in love with the beauty of the Crescent City itself, its characters, their relationships, and mystery, The Damned takes the approach to show us the rotten layer beneath the beauty, the dark secrets, the twisted history, the brutality. All while it still is a story of loyalty, love, friendship, and finding out who one is.

If someone else would have attempted to write this story, they might have failed. It is in the first place Renée Ahdieh's brilliant writing and talent to build up tension and relationships that make this tale so special and thrilling. Again, she did not disappoint with her poetic and beautifully written tale, showcasing the damned part of this tale in such a beautiful light that leaves me craving for more. Honestly, I think I'll never stop craving for more.

Fitting the titles of each book, the narratives take a turn themselves. As The Beautiful Celine was the narrator carrying the story in the first book, while Bastien - now a Damned - narrates the plot of the sequel. His journey to adjust as a vampire, accept his fate, and the emtional havoc he brings upon himself is the focus of most of the novel - and just intensifies the tension between the two that I've come to adore SO MUCH in the first book.

However, this is not where their love story ends but merely begins.

And this is where the so beautiful tension built up in the first book becomes even better in this sequel. Whenever these two met, I wanted to scream and throw things at them, forcing them to finally give in, and give them just as much myself the release of the tension that has built up inside of myself for MONTHS. If there was ever a time where a slow burn romance killed me so perfectly, it was with this series. I can't stop shipping these two. I just can't. And while I got satisfying moments with these two, all I can say is that the tension yet needs proper release - and I fear the next book will kill me even more.

Trying not to give away much, all I dare say is that this book did not only follow the plot that was builded up in the first book, but introduces new paths and new storylines that all need proper exploring.

Which also leads to me discussing the minor problems I had with this book. While I adored the direction this book took me, and the reveals connected to the new plotlines, I must say a tiny part of me wishes we would have gotten more time to dwell into the mysterious New Orleans, as much as I wished for more pages as I felt the last part of the book was rather rushed. And - I really really really wished for that specific scene of Bastien and Celine to be longer. And more detailed. Much more detailed. Much more.

At this point, I will just wait impatiently for the next book and hopefully it will kill me in just the right way as the previous ones did.

To say, I'm excited is an understatement.

4.5 stars!

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin convinced me due to its rich and brilliant worldbuilding combined with captivating storytelling and elements inspired by folklore and mythology! Surely my favorite aspect of this story, and what made me fall in love with the book in the very beginning. Brown really knows how to interwine elements of West African folklore with her very own fantasy world and the stories told in the book were so beautifully written and narrated that I found myself craving for more.

The second favorite thing of mine were the protagonists who shined due to their various traits and motivations, and it was a duel on who I find more likeable at times. Both - Malik and Karina - are such realistic characters that show sides of strength as well of weakness, and it was their inner struggle and fight that I find most thrilling. I also like to add that it was nice to see a mental health representation with these characters as it is something we rarely seem to see in fantasy novels. However, I sometimes didn‘t see why it was so much connected to the magic and fantastical elements of this story and would‘ve wished for it to not be depicted as a side effect of it.

This leads me to the part that I enjoyed the least - the magic system. Usually good worldbuilding goes hand in hand with a good magic system. However, while I adored the rich worldbuilding of ASOWAR, its magic system just caused confusion, and didn‘t click with me at all. Often I saw myself not properly understanding how the magic even started in a scene or how it worked, going back only to be left with more questions. I still don‘t think I understood how it works, even though it happened to be more explained toward the end of the book. Just as much as the lack of information and detail bothered me, it also was confusing on how the characters seemed to master it so quick and beautifully without seeming to grasp what it actually means. Definitely something I‘d wish to see more development of in the next book as it didn‘t have the right explanation that it needs.

Another thing that I found rather lacking but didn‘t bother me as much as the previous aspect was the romance. While I enjoyed the idea of it, and the scenes on their own, I would have wished for more build up. Malik and Karina both had too serious goals and motivations to start losing sight of them for each other, and therefore, I often struggled to accept the romance as it was delivered despite enjoying the scenes. While I found the big scene where the realization hit them was perfectly done, and the perfect moment for that spark to ignite, it was the lack of build up before then that didn‘t convince me of their love. However, I can see a lot of development there as the ending promised a bigger and more complex connection!

Despite those issues, the worldbuilding and characters shone so much that I really enjoyed the story, and can‘t wait for its sequel!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars!

For a book that is called Conversations with Friends, the characters sure knew to not have any of the needed ones. Don't take me wrong, I loved the writing and the dialogues. I get why Rooney chose this title, and it surely makes sense. There were conversations with friends. Many, actually. And it was the naturality as well as the realistic aspect that conversations nowadays never truly end that made me eagerly continue to read it. However, in the end, I wasn't sure anymore how realistic they truly are - or if it was Rooney's talent of writing that made them appear so.

This book is being marketed as the book for millenials. For female millenials. A category in which I find myself to be. Rooney is the voice of Generation Y. A generation I belong to. With all the talk and hype around this debut novel, I was expecting it to deliver what everyone said it would: a sense of what it means to be young.

I don't want to say, it didn't. That's not the case. Its core message definitely resonated with me, and kept me thinking. It was more the plot Rooney decided to use for these messages that felt so distanced and unreal that I often wondered, how this voice could say something affecting a full generation? If we can actually speak of a plot...

The story is very character-driven, and reads itself like a stream of events, feelings, conversations, and memories. It is a book that fully lives through the characters' relationships, and it's the relationships that carry the book.

A ménage-à-quatre it is - with former lovers and now best friends Frances and Bobbi, and the ten-ish years older married couple Melissa and Nick. Met at a Spoken-Word-Event where Frances and Bobbi perform texts of the former, Melissa showed interest in the duo. This lead to a rather interesting constellation as the friends arrived for dinner at the journalist's place, where her husband and actor Nick joined them as well. No matter how you looked at these four people, each individual pairing had their interesting and very emotional aspect to it. What started as friendly dinner invitations and ... (yes!) conversations, became very soon a complex and intertwined construct, added with a longing for the other, power, and vulnerability.

It was this specific constellation of these four people, just as their individuel relationships to each other, that I found interesting enough to binge this book. Their thoughts, their actions, and their feelings felt as real as they felt distant. I thought I could understand them, and whenever I couldn't, I came to learn to do so. (I don't necessarily see myself as a person with too high morals, and while I can understand many people's shock of Frances' actions, I also knew that the possibility for such things to happen is higher and more often more innocent than one lets them to believe.)

And as much as their relationships made the story what it was, and made me unable of putting the book down, I just couldn't connect to any of the characters. It wasn't the lack of reality, but more how far away they seemed to be of anything that I knew. It was as if every character stood on a pedestal, attributed with this presence of being special and different that made it hard for me to connect to them, or even like them. While I sense the irony behind this, since Frances (the protagonist and narrator of the novel) gets accused to do just that - think of people she likes as something special -, I couldn't agree that this degree of specialty exists. Who doesn't praise people they love? Or see them as better versions than they actually are? I, for my part, very much like to do so, and understand why Frances does. But this only led to create a bigger distance between the characters and me.

Despite all of this, I still can sense why this novel might have been a dealbreaker. Despite the distance I felt towards the characters and some of their conversations, I still sensed this specfic longing that many of my peers, me included, feel. Despite the fact that I missed an actual plot with a beginning, a climax and ending point, I could still understand why Rooney went for this. Because after all, we all live a life depending on individual decisions and events, where one things leads us to the other, one conversations is more meaningful than the other, and no ending or point of satisfactions is in sight. Even if I couldn't relate to Frances as the narrator of the story (who to some degree had too many tropes as attributions to her personality), I could relate to one thing. It's hard to find out what one wants, to find one's place, and to plan out a future in a present so overwhelming.

This is definitely a book that gives as much as it doesn't. And I guess that's what life does, too.
One can find themselves enjoying the story, and one can find them being bored. One can answer the questions place throughout the book, another might add some couple more.

One thing this book is. A long conversation of its own that leads to ask "what is a conversation?".

And honestly, what is it?

Actual rating: 3,5 stars

(I received the ebook by the author)

WHAT. A. RIDE.

Though The Summoning found its way to me in a time where work and university kept me very busy, the tension in every page made me welcome every opportunity I had to sit down and enjoy some reading time. Angels as a concept are something that, as fantasy readers, we’ve all come across at some point, but S.V. Filice had such an interesting take on these well-known and beloved beings.

Because of the short length of the book, I was surprised by how much world-building was present in the story, and how much I grew to appreciate the characters. The main character is Isabelle, an small-town girl who lives with her younger sister, Brett, and their aunt after the death of her mother and the disappearance of her father. Of the two, Brett is the one who struggles to come to terms with loss the most, and for this reason she asks to visit a psychic in hopes of reconnecting with her mother. From this encounter, Isabelle’s life takes an entirely new course, and she discovers a world far more complex than she thought possible and that her role in this world goes beyond what she ever imagined. In fact, Isabelle and Brett have angel blood, and after their encounter with the psychic they are divided and sent to two different angel boarding schools.

Being divided from her sister forces Isabelle to question everything about who she is and who she wants to be. I found her to be a very believable and relatable character. Her struggles—mental, physical and emotional—are aspects that every girl can relate to, even without angel blood. Unfortunately. Who wouldn’t want to be a badass angel warrior?

The lines between good and evil, angels and demons, were blurred and complex in this world. I really enjoyed learning more about it along with Isabelle and finding myself consumed in this world alongside her. This wouldn’t have been possible without the cast of supporting characters by Isabelle’s side? Do you want women who support women? You have them! Do you want romance—possibly the angsty kind, with a mysterious, brooding male love interest? You have it!

My only problem was that it was hard to understand how the angel abilities worked. It does become easier as you go along, but my difficulty also rested in the fact that I did not have the time to binge this book as I would have liked to. But in the end, I managed, and I love the magic system.

Now it’s time for you to fall in love with this story! If you’re looking for a short read with angels, magic and romance, this is the book you’ve been waiting for!

I had very high hopes and expectations set for this standalone Fantasy novel as it seemed to promise everything I've been looking for. A story about stars? A celestial setting? Hindu mythology? Romance? All checks. And it didn't hurt that the Charlie Bowater cover called my name. There was no way we would pass the chance to read this story, so we picked Shveta Thakrar's book as our September #booktalktwithwifey book on bookstagram.

Unfortunately, everything that sounded so enthrallingly beautiful only sounded so in theory. The book didn‘t make me feel anything. Except boredom.

The premise of the story was promising; however, the execution of the plot didn't excite me. More or less, we are accompaning characters from one place to another, one lesson to the next, and witness one dialogue after another that didn't seem to have any edge or relevance to it. The worldbuilding just seemed flat to me, and I couldn't understand in which way any of what was the main plotline was relevant to a world as this. Not even the characters were able to keep me happy or thrilled. The romance felt unnecessary, and like the example of how to miss opportunities to bring in some tension, the side characters were nice but felt more like fillers without a specific meaning or purpose.

What saved most of the book was the lyrical wirting. Shveta Thakrar has such a beautiful way with words that I adored the prose the most. That, and the fascinating Hindu mythology were the biggest highlight for me. However, after a certain point not even the writing was helping me stay on track.

I wished I would have been able to fully enjoy this book, especially due to its beautiful writing, but I just couldn't find myself to understand or enjoy the story and worldbuilding. I found myself more often than I want checking how many pages were left as all I wanted was to be done with it.

I was excited to be finally able to read a book that has been hyped up all over Bookstagram, and by an author who I have always admired. Fable seemed to the perfect read to get me out of my semi-slump caused by my never-ending university reading list, and I was eagerly looking forward to read it as our October pick for #Booktalkwithwifey!

As I dived into the book, I discovered a beautiful world set at sea and a strong, female protagonist that I came to love dearly. Years ago, Fable has been left on an island known for its danger and thieves to tend to her own, and has ever since only one mission: to surive and prove her father that she is made for this world. When the chance arrives to get off the island, she takes it and finds herself on the ship of West who seems to have his very own reasons to take her as a passenger, and darker secrets.

I truly enjoyed the first part of the book, and loved reading the underwater scenes, the interactions between Fable and the crew of the Marigold as well as finding out how this world of "traders" works. I was sure I would love this book with passion, and was already excited to dive deeper.

However, during the second part of the book I found myself struggling with the pace and the romance, and especially both aspects in combination. During the first part of the book, we rather witness all events in a rather slow pace that fits the situation and story. However, when things start getting serious, it seemed that scenes that I wished would take longer or were slower in order to give us time to understand and proceed information took only a few pages, while other journeys or events that don't seem to have any relevance to the main plot took unbelievable long. I would have wished that maybe some scenes during the first part of the book would have taken less time, while especially the second half of the book would have been explored more ... in a corresponding pace. Same happened with the romance. Instead of building up the tension, we can only guess as much due to the blurb, and when things start to become interesting the development went from not there at all to a full make-out session in such a short period of time that I found myself not enjoying it at all.

Nevertheless, the book has openend many many doors to new plotlines, and the ending had me left craving for more. I can't wait to finally have Namesake in my hands and find out what happens next, as the potential is way too big and my excitement fully there. And don't let me start about all the theories I have already thought of!