Kings to kill, gods to fight, and being stranded with the one person who has broken your trust is not the way Queen Neve thought her day would be going. The sequel to For the Wolf picks up where the first book ended, Red has become one with the Wilderwood and is living as part of it with her husband and Neve has fallen into the Shadowlands with Solmir, a ex-king who had tricked her... while also strangely has been taking care of her. Solmir has a different agenda, his entire goal is to kill the Five kings before they come back and will do everything to achieve his goals because if they are released they will destroy the entire world. Neve is now stranded in the Shadowlands with the one person she didn’t want to be, the one person who she had trusted and had found herself feeling something for, only to have the mask ripped off.. and yet despite his monstrousness, his cruelty, there is something more in the way he looks at her, the way he protects her. The only way to get out of the Shadowlands and stop the kings is if they both work together. But can they trust one another despite all their lies and deeds? Can they be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice as the more the go on this journey the more they discover they have in common... and that there is something there between them. While this is all happening Red and co are all trying to find a way to save Neve while dealing with the consequences of the first book, being that Red and Eammon are now magical immortal beings that are part Wilderwood and that there is also a mysterious new person in their group who has her own agenda. This was a great way to wrap up the story and get to know both Neve and Solmir more. I absolutely adored them, their romance is tragic, angsty, and beautiful. They are both willing to do whatever it takes for the ones they care about and are willing to get their hands dirty in order for the greater good. All in all, I have had a blast reading this duology and would definitely recommend it!

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books, Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A super cute children's book about dealing with anxiety and worry and about learning to take risks. The artwork was super cute and the story handles the topic really well! I had a great time reading this and would definitely recommend it for kids!

When a grieving daughter receives the item from her father’s will its not the one she thought, instead she is left with something that makes her question what she truly meant to her father and who he truly was. Ellie Adler is a up and coming journalist, freshly out of college for two years now and has an older lover, a group of smart friends, and a very close relationship with her father, despite his philandering ways. When he dies, she is devastated, yet when his prize possession, a baseball that held emotional value to both of them is left to someone else and she is left with a tie rack of all things she is crushed. The worst part is that the baseball is left to someone no one the family knows. Ellie begins to investigate who her father truly is. The overall mystery was eh and I found myself a bit irritated by the main protagonist and the fact that she is seeing a married guy who is 39 with her being just two years out of college. In fact having a father who was twiced divorced and has four kids among three women you’d think she’d know better but apparently not. Overall it was an okay read

*Thank you Random House for the arc, all my opinions and thoughts are my own*

A witch is back in town after exiling herself after a terrible relationship and now she’s about to make unexpected alliances, especially in the form of a beautiful witch. Emmy Harlow is a witch, but not the most powerful one, she comes from a family of witches who are considered pretty low on the power totem in their town of Thistle Grove. Her family however is in charge of the magical competition and Emmy has returned home after about 10 years of leaving behind her magic and her community to finally help with the competition and see her friends again. On her first day back she runs into her dreaded ex, the person who might have played a teeny tiny part in the reason why Emmy left in the first place, Gareth Blackmoore, a warlock from the most powerful magical family in town and known heartbreaker. After her encounter with Gareth, in which he doesn’t even recognize her, she runs into Talia Avramov, all around badass adept in the darker arts, absolutely stunning and sexy witch. Talia is fresh from a bad break up herself, and none other than from Gareth... who was coincidentally also cheating with Emmy’s own childhood best friend Lin while he was hooking up with Talia. Talia and Lin have come up with a plant o get back at Gareth and with Emmy in town, it seems like the most ideal time. What better way to get revenge from the heir of the most powerful family than by taking away his family’s winning streak in the competition? Soon Emmy finds herself getting to spend more time with Talia and getting know her. Throw in cute coffee dates, a fierce competition, family legacies, and asking yourself just where you belong. This was such a sweet and fun read, I absolutely adored the chemistry between Emmy and Talia, *fan’s self*. They just work so well together and the story was just so interesting! I can’t wait to read the second book in the series and see where the other characters go!

A girl who can see the dead finds herself dragged into a world of ghosts, shapeshifting warrior crows, a forbidden romance, and a murderer on the loose. Anora Silby can see the dead... and she can turn their spirits into gold coins. After a horrible incident in her old school her mother has moved her to a new one, far away from the incident in hopes for a new start. Anora keeps her abilities a secret but it’s kind of hard to remain calm when you see dead bodies and ghosts... and it doesn’t help that the new school she transferred to use to be an asylum and on the first day the ghost of a dead girl is following her. Anora wants nothing more than to be normal but when she accidentally claims the soul of a ghost of a dead girl on campus and turns her into a coin... only to lose the coin things go wrong. Turns out the coin gives otheres the ability to steal souls and when a classmate ends up dead, Anora knows it just has to be the coin. It doesn’t help that she doesn’t know who she can trust with her secrets and who is actually trying to use her. Throw in a handsome but mysterious boy named Shy, a girl who absolutely loathes her name Natalie, a sad boy who smokes and has ghosts of his own named Thane, and a new friend named Lennon... but who among them can she truly trust? Betrayals, romance, and friendship all come together as Anora must navigate who she truly is and what her abilities actually mean. Also she’ll have to decide if she can trust the one boy that she can’t seem to stay away from who seems so familiar to her despite them never having met. This is the first book in the series and I actually really liked it! I enjoyed the mystery and the magic system was fun, and the romance was a pretty sweet one, and thankfully there was no love triangle (gosh I was so worried there would be one haha). Overall, a great read and I can’t wait to see where the next book goes and what happens to Anora and Shy!

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, Bloom Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Archenemies after a terrible misunderstanding, wild child Isidora Avramov and straight-laced Rowan Thorn will have to come together to solve the deadly witch attacks before it’s too late. Isidora Avramov is a thrill chaser, she adores designing clothes, and wants to branch out and do her own businesses, but her anxiety attacks and the fear that she’ll lose her relationship with her mother is making her afraid to take a step out. She is from the Avramov family, a family of dark magic witches who though are rough around the edges, family means everything to them. After a horrible summer job at the vets under the one and only Rowan Thorn where she was asked to leave, Isidora has always held a long standing grudge. Rowan Thorn is the hero, he’s straight laced, morally right, and is the definition of lawful good. He’s everything Isidora isn’t. After his cousin is victim to a magic attack at the festival, its up to Rowan and Isidora to become co-investigators and find out who is behind the attack, and to try and stop future attacks... if they can survive not killing each other first. The more time they spend together the more they start to surprise each other and realize that maybe there’s more to the other than they first thought. This was a pretty cute enemies to lovers romance with a splash of mystery, and we get a cameo of our favorite couple from the first book as well as a little character introduction to the main protagonist of the next book! Overall a cute read@

Children with powers, monsters on the loose, and a man made of smoke hunting them down. This is a gorgeous dark fantasy set in Victorian England, 1882. The story follows two children with mysterious powers- Marlowe, a boy who was kidnapped as a baby and raised by a tattooed woman in the circus and has the ability to glow and melt and mend people and Charles, a boy who who is convicted for killing two people and has the ability to heal himself. These children are known as “Talents” and are being recruited to an institution for others like them. They are being looked for by a female detective named Alice who’s job is to seek out these children and transport them safely to the institution. However, things rarely go as planned as a man made of smoke is hunting them down, killing anyone who gets in his way, but he has his own dark secrets connected to the institution and he is desperate to capture Marlowe. The story and world is so interesting and it truly fleshes out the magic and characters in the book. I can’t wait to see where the story continues and how these characters will grow!

*Thank you to Flatiron for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A dangerous game has started and each contestant has had a loved one taken from them... and the only way to get them back is to win. Five strangers with nothing connecting them and each with their own complicated story. Each of the receives a mysterious text message to play a game, they are forbidden from calling the police or telling anyone... and if they do their loved one dies. Each player is assigned a number. The start of this book was interesting however by the 50% point in my interest fizzeled and the fact that we. never really get into the game was a bit disappointing.There was also the issue that more characters were being introduced outside of the main characters as well as a pregame section and the characters kind of started blending into one another. The plot twist was okay and the overall ending was fine but honestly I just couldn’t find myself connecting to the story or the thriller. I think maybe it would be translated as a show or movie so it wouldn’t feel as if it dragged so much, but also PLEASE CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS. I was completely thrown off. Overall this one just wasn’t for me but do check it out if you like thrillers.

*Thank you Harper360 for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A lyrical retelling of the Irish legend of The Children if Lir. The story deals with desire, the desires that a woman has the the brutality that comes when there are unmet desires. The story follows Aife, the middle sister of a family who is then traded in place of her dead sister to the husband. She has to take care of her older sister’s children. The marriage isn’t what she had imagined or wanted. Her husband treats her like a nuisance and in turn her anger and resentment are lashed out onto his children. She turns the four children into swans for 900 years and her own punishment for doing so is being unable to connect to anyone from her past life. She slowly begins to developed an affection towards the swans but this is also a story about men who toy with women and the bonds of sisterhood and children who can forgive. This is a story about a woman who has made a mistake but in turn is trying to fix them and to make things right. The illustrations in the story were stunning and the forgiveness was a beautiful aspect of the story.

*Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Amnesia, a mystery, and missing family members. Cleo wakes up in the woods with injuries and no memory of what has happened to her. She soon discovers that her parents are missing and that their disappearance isn’t as normal as she thought and it might be connected to her missing memory. Soon she finds herself trying to find out what happened to them and regain her memories. cleo isn’t exactly a likable character and you learn that she is a bit of a bitch as people in her life would describe her. The story also has a lot of social commentary and shows some of the micro-aggressions that Chinese-Canadians face as well as the way abuse and toxic family works. There was emotional and discussion on domestic abuse and trauma. The author weaves in experiences of BIPOC and members of the LGBTQ community. The thriller aspect was a bit slower for my liking and the mystery was okay and it definitely felt like more of a family based drama with a touch of forgotten identity. The ending felt ambiguous which I wish it had more of a solid ending.

*Thank you Harper360 for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*