A nun who wants nothing more than to continue in her path of tending to dead bodies... and the relic that calls to her destiny. Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses dead bodies of their souls otherwise the spirits will rise with a hunger for the living. She has been outcast ever since she herself was possessed by a spirit as a young child, but when her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia finds herself in possession of an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic... now bound to her. While trying to defend her convent she accidentally comes into possession of this new power, and this new spirit who is snarky, talkative, and constantly threatening to possess her if she drops her guard. After the attack Artemisia finds herself on the run from the priest confessor who seeks her powers and trying to solve a sinister mystery of saints, dark magic, and the new relationship between her and the revenant. This was a delightfully fun read. I enjoyed the revenant and Artemisia’s relationship so much, and getting to see them grow to trust one another and help one another, all while trying to solve a mystery? Perfection. I am so excited for the next book and to see where they go together.

*Thank you Goodreads and Simon Teen for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Hazel lively is the headmistress of a new school for girls in a cozy sea place, her dream is to have a school where girls can feel like they’ve found a family... too bad her school only has five students and no one else seems to want to attend. Gabriel Beckett is an Earl who needs his rebellious niece to behave and straighten out so he can finally marry the lady he wants. Gabriel’s niece, Kitty has already been kicked out of two schools and Hazel’s school is his last hope to help straighten her out. However, Hazel has her own workings, she wants to help Kitty and Gabriel become a family and to ultimately help Kitty heal after the death of her parents. She makes a deal with Beck, if he agrees to visit his niece every two weeks, she will take Kitty on as a student in her school. Beck agrees, seeing as he has become interested in the new headmistress.....while still pursuing his engagement to another woman in London. Soon awkward teen bonding and outings bring together these three. I have to say I actually liked Hazel and I liked how she stood her ground and wouldn’t settle for less. My big issue here came in the form of our love protagonist Beckett. To say I did not see how he and Hazel had any chemistry together and would work together.... The entire time he is pursuing Hazel he is also actively pursuing his courtship and intentions to marry his fiancee in London.... all while also getting together with Hazel. With his tragic backstory, the fact that he is doing this, was even more baffling, and the ending with the whole dilemma of him being like “love doesn’t exist and I can’t love you” while being in love with her? I just can’t with this man. He kept expecting her to meet his needs and when she clearly laid out her terms he still expects her to change them. Yes I can clearly see how long it took for this dude to figure out he was in love with Hazel, and to shed his “cold and snooby” demeanor but still, something about him just irritated me. So while Hazel was a joy to read, Beckett got on my last nerves. Definitely give this a try, it’s a fast and easy read and great for romance lovers. It would have been perfect for me but sadly I just couldn’t get into Beckett.

*Thanks netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Hogwarts meets Hunger Games in this thrilling magical story about a magical school infested with monster that will kill you and has about a 30-40% percent chance of graduating alive. In a world where there are students gifted with “mana” they go to the school of Scholomance, where they learn spells, crafting, and most of all, must learn how to survive attacks from literal monsters who want to eat them due to their magic. Galadriel, a student in her junior of Scholomance, just wants to make it out alive, secure a position for an enclave that will protect her and enable her to have a future and to take care of her mom. She has a particular affinity, that she has been keeping hidden, and has maintained a strict distance from everyone in order to survive because at the end of the day only you can look out for yourself, or so she thought. All of that goes crashing into flames when she is rescued by the school’s number one shinning knight in armor, Orion Lake. She absolutely loathes him, and it’s completely understandable. He keeps saving people, which means more students will likely survive, and more monsters go hungry, and her chances of having a secure future plummet. The thing is, Orion latches himself onto El, he constantly is just there. He walks her to class, he eats with her, he rescues her. The guy is just constantly helping her and wearing her hatred down. ( which completely reminds me of that one episode in New Girl)

Anyways, El finds herself now working through social politics and proposals she has never had to before. Especially when she finds new alliances, new horrors, and more magic waiting to be unleashed. This story gave me strong Hogwarts but make it horror vibes, or more like Hogwarts from the perspective of anyone who wasn’t Harry Potter and co and were left to deal with unspeakable horrors built into a magical school that operated on its own terms. The dynamic between El and Orion gave me strong Draco and Harry Vibes with El being the pessimestic more dark magic user and being fed up with Orion being the hero with people avoiding El because she gave off a “dark” vibe while Orion definitely was the Harry Potter-esque guy, he’s from a famous family, is extremely popular, constantly doing dumb battle things but making it work, and friendly but not really close to people who want to know him for his fame. So I definitely enjoyed the friendship between El and her allies (I’ll leave that up to you to find out who) because it’s sweet seeing El slowly open herself up and understand what having real friends is. The relationship growth between her and Orion was also really great to read. I just had a fun time reading this story and can’t wait to dive into the next book!

Victor Fries has a cold heart, after the death of his brother in a tragic house fire Victor has felt that it was his fault and has shut himself out. Norma Kumar is in love with life, she suffers from an incurable disease and only has a few months left before she plans to take her own life. After Norma moves to Gotham, she meets Victor at a cemetery. Norma pulls Victor from his isolation and soon the two find themselves spending every minute with each other and falling in love. Victor is a scientist and is working towards on freezing related things. When he finds out about Norma’s disease he becomes obsessed with finding a way to help her, no matter what. This is a fun take on the classic backstory on a classic Gotham Villain. Mr. Freeze and the love that he has for his wife is a classic part of his character and this new take on the story was refreshing. I really loved it and the artwork was just stunning. Mr. Freeze has always been a bit of a tragic character, and the love he has for his wife was always such an interesting part of his story. I would definitely recommend this for fans of Batman villains.

Magic, pirates, mermaids, blood, and a kingdom to rule. Princess Amora Montara is next in line to be the ruler of the island kingdom Visidia. All her life she has been training and working towards being the ruler her kingdom deserves, she has bleed for her kingdom and will fight tooth and nail to protect her people... and yet on the day of her test, in which she must demonstrate her mastery over her family’s particular magic (soul magic) in order to show her people she is worthy as being the ruler, but soul magic is dangerous and hers goes wild...forcing her to flee her home. She runs into a mysterious pirate Bastian who offers her a deal, he’ll help her prove herself fit to be ruler and in return she help him regain his stolen magic. Soon both of them find themselves in for more than they bargained for with a stow-away healer fiancee for Amora and a deadly mermaid that makes up the rest of their crew. But they each have secrets and soon they find themselves on a journey to not only reclaim what they both want but to protect the kingdoms from a ruler who wants to destroy them and maybe feelings for both of them. This was such a fantastic adventure! I was hooked from the start and you can bet I have a big crush on Amora! The progression of the story is so enjoyable and every turn has you feeling like its a fantastic pirate journey! I loved how you got to know each member of the crew and how each of them is more than what they seem. They’re all dealing with difficulties and struggles, but when it comes down to it, they’re all willing to fight tooth and nail for each other and that is just *chef’s kiss*. Filled with magic, bonding, survival, and maybe even a little bit of romance, this was definitely a wonderful start and the next book is already on my (reading) horizon!

A delightful little read. Such an interesting book that starts off with the premise of someone finding a note stating “you’ve been poisoned” after eating breakfast. While short, the book covers a lot of interesting topics and carries you a journey with the author. It definitely hooks you and keeps you going on the mystery until the end and in wonderful Lemony Snicket fashion, it was just quirky and thoughtful at the same time.

Let me first get this off my chest: THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING TO ME AND I NEED YA’LL TO SEE HOW DELIGHTFULLY BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL THIS STORY WAS! Sapphic Villains, rivals-to-lovers Goodness???? I AM FED.

In a world where there are 3 witches, The Black Jaga, the White, Jaga, and the Red Jaga, each has their own servants, Midnight, Sunrise, and Midday. These three girls are given magic and are tasked with collecting princes’ hearts for their perspective grandmothers, and by hearts I mean the literal heart that the grandmothers will then eat to gain more power. The current Midnight is Zosia who has been on the winning streak, being the most mysterious and powerful of the three. Midday is Marynka, who’s sole purpose is to beat Zosia, she has been obsessed with winning, with finally being able to prove to the Red Jaga that she is someone to be proud of. Beata is the current sunrise and is best friends with Marynka. On the latest prince’s heart hunt, the girls are all tasked with retrieving Prince Joseph’s heart, since his is a rare one, a pure heart. The thing about these three girls is that, they’re all witches, all monsters, all tasked with doing monstrous things for someone else. What makes this new competition a little different is.... Marynka and Zosia finally meet in person after years and years of competing with each other... and both girls are striving after different things... and yet after getting to know one another.... there is an undeniable attraction despite the rivalry between them. Zosia is desperate to free herself from her grandmother, from being a monster and killing princes, she just wants to be free, and with this last heart, she will finally have enough power to free herself. The only complication is that, Marynka also needs the heart and is willing to do anything to stop her from having it, and yet both of them can’t seem to stray between the lines of love and hate. When I tell you this book had me screaming and just gushing over their chemistry, I can’t even begin. This book was the perfect sapphic villains love story for me. I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it. I can honestly say PLEASE GIVE ME A SEQUEL OF MORE OF THESE LADIES AND THEIR STORY. I would happily eat that up. The chemistry between Zosia and Marynka was absolutely perfect, the casual line between love and hate constantly blurring, between friendship and duties, between obsession and reality, the need to have one constantly on their mind and finally realizing that a life without the other just isn’t possible. *chef’s kiss* so yes, please pick up this book, it’s got wonderful enemies to lovers, magic, myths, and an ending that will have you asking for more.

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire, Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A new take on infamous Vlad Dracula, except now with a teen love triangle. At first I was so interested in the premise... but by the time I finished the book, I just couldn’t get how flat it fell for me. The story revolves around Vlad Dracula, who has long lived in the shadow of his father and older brother, suffering their cruelties and wanting so badly to prove himself and be worthy of the throne. His only friend is his cousin Andrei Musat and both boys find themselves at odds with one another when they meet Ilona Csaki, who is newly betrothed to Vlad’s older brother who is inheriting the throne.... for now. The only things we get about Ilona is that she is gorgeous and “isn’t like other girls” because she likes science and isn’t afraid of blood. She’s throwing her feelings between both boys and is constantly just out here being “not like other girls” (sigh). The whole book mainly focuses on the love triangle between the three with Vlad essentially being the bad boy while Andrei is the nice guy. Throughout this book there are political assassinations, war, and so forth, yet all those things are essentially glossed over for this tepid love triangle. I found myself caring less and less for these unlikable characters and was just happy to have made it to the end of the book. I had high hopes for this book and was just disappointed, I do adore a Vlad Dracula take but this one just didn’t work out for me. It felt much more middle grade than young adult and all the characters were unlikable and you just can’t really find yourself caring for any of them. The only thing that I was truly invested in was Vlad versus his older brother for the throne, after that I was just left with meh for everything else.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Swoon Reads for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Magical beings, friendship, war, and an adventure of a lifetime. Thom Ngoh is still reeling from her so called friend’s betrayal, the Monkey King. He had taught her to control her super strength and help her stand up for herself... yet he was also tricking her to steal from the Heavens and release him from his 500 year prison. now that he is free he plans to wage war against the Heavens and fight to give a place to his demon monkey brethren. Thom must now fix this mess and do everything she can to stop him from hurting people. Thom and her dragon friend Kha thus are set off on an adventure to find help from the Heavenly beings in stopping the Monkey... and yet everything comes with a price. It doesn’t help that a Monkey King clone has come to Thom and tells her he is still her friend and must protect her at all cost... and soon Thom finds herself struggling to see whose side she is on and how to save everyone. This was such a fun read and the friendship and grey areas were so well portrayed in this story. The dynamic between Thom and the Monkey King was my favorite aspect of the book. Thom and the Monkey King are both trying to do what they think is right, and yet there is this strong bond between the two of them despite everything thats happened, The ending of the story was just perfect and so sweet, I truly loved how this book wrapped up and would definitely recommend this series!

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*