It's 2AM as I sit down to write this review. I knew this one would hurt me as much as Jade City, if not more, I just didn't know how. I feel like I've aged four years reading the events that occur in Jade War lol

I want to say the majority of this sequel was filled with political intrigue - dealing with foreign islands plunged into war, a lot of business deals to gain allies, and many decisions that will effect what will occur in the coming years for both the No Peak Clan and Mountain Clan. This book approaches the ideal of imperialism and the effects it has on Kekon and the surrounding nations.

I think I enjoyed Jade War for different reasons than I did for Jade City. Although, both had political intrigue and action. This one heavily focused on the characters finding their identity, learning more about themselves, and coming to terms with themselves - to just be who they are. Especially, Shae and Anden. But, really all of the characters had a focus on this major point, identity.

I didn't expected to be absolutely rocked with sadness and a sense of bittersweetness that I have right now. I often find I don't have many words for books I absolutely love and will probably stay with me for the rest of my life, but I'm literally stunned and don't know what else to say other than to go out and read the Greenbone Saga!!

This is for the 18+ crowd

This was a great start to a series and I'm definitely looking forward to the next couple of books now cause I'm hooked.

The Stardust Thief is inspired by One Thousand and One Nights and weaves in Arab folklore into the story of Loulie, Qadir, Mazen, and Aisha's journey. Some are even relative to recognizable stories from 1001 Nights. I really enjoyed the folklore and how the author interjected the story with a legend that would also be relative to the story of the characters! I loved the magic and mythology in this book, I'm a sucker for anything mythology based and this is perfect with the lore and inspo behind it!!

The only complaint is that I didn't really care for the characters until near the end. Most of the journey is a solitary one for each of the characters and you don't see them together often. You have dark lord type villain, that I'm hoping we will see more of and understand their motives. Loulie, Qadir, and the folklore were the main driving factors for me enjoying this book.

There is little to no romance, but plenty of action in this book. Once chaos ensued, it never really stopped and I really enjoyed that. I hope we get to know the characters more and they get more fleshed out as the series goes. But, overall this was a good read and I really do recommend it.

Disclosure: I received The Stardust Thief as an ARC and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

for the 18+ crowd

Initially, I read Black Sun back at the end of 2020 when I first started getting back into reading as a hobby. I enjoyed it back then, as I do now. Although, back then I didn't leave a review lol

I loved all the characters Nara, Serapio, Xiala, and Okoa. Although, now I'm noticing that I wish Okoa had more to do in the story besides being the clueless, fall guy for the most part. I loved Nara and how she's determined to be different from the other Sky Made, despite all odds against her. Serapio and Xiala are so good together and I love their interactions. Overall, I enjoyed the plot but I feel like the ending was super rushed and ended very much chaotic.

I'd still recommend this one though, even with the rushed ending, just because of the slow-burn, the godly powers, and the characters.

This book got me out of my reading slump and I love it for that! I love the plus size sarcastic, yet sunshine mc in this romance <3 and the red haired, brooding man that's actually super sweet and thoughtful. This romance shows a lot of the thought process when it comes to vulnerability too and I related to a lot of it. There were a lot of misunderstandings on both parts, so if you're not into that in a romance be warned. But, this book was worth the whole read and listen. I loved the narration, it was really easy to follow and listen along to while doing chores lol This a wholesome, yet steamy romance. Can I mention that I love the point of view of Red when he describes Chloe?? and how adorable and sweet he is omfg. <3 I'm trying my best to not spoil any content for anybody who wants to read, so I'm going to leave it at this.

This romance can be super relatable to some, it can be adorable and sad, sweet and steamy. Just read it if you haven't already.

my god I thought I loved Chloe and Red but Danika and Zaf just took the top spot

I listened to the audiobook and this book was well written especially in the sense of emotion. I never knew what was coming (especially towards the end of the story) and I’m happy the story of Odette wasn’t in essay form. There were footnotes given by the author to clarify statements and even an epilogue and appendix with more info. I thought this was a great listen and would recommend to anybody that likes military history, women in history, spies, & WW2 history. I really enjoyed this and would listen to it again.

This was a short and concise read of the history and culture behind the shinobi of feudal Japan. It goes over their appearances in our modern culture, details their life as covert agents from the beginning and to their end in the Meiji Era, as well as telling how the we came to see the modern shinobi in culture from writings in the 1900s. I enjoyed this as an audiobook and would listen to it again!