I thought the gunpowder fantasy setting was cool. There's Luca, the princess trying to claim a throne and Touraine, a soldier struggling from where she came from and her allegiances. I thought this book went fairly well, but 3rd and 4th sections kind of went nutty. There were so many actions of Touraine not necessarily explained, but just done. I get they feel like they don't belong in any group, but have love for certain people, but they quite literally don't even think two steps ahead for being a lieutenant lol So, it got a little confusing there at the end.

But, I'm willing to give the next book a shot to see where it goes. I really like Luca and the possibility of her and Touraine getting together at some point. Like the pining is there.. 

Initially, this one was hard to get into, but I'm glad I stuck through with it. I ended up loving the characters and the world; with assassination attempts, magical bonds, temples, spirits, and a romance sub plot. I don't normally enjoy standalone fantasies, but I would recommend this one.

As for the audiobook part, I thought it had a decent flow and the narrator had a pretty distinct voice for characters, so I know who was speaking in the story. 

Disclaimer: I received Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove as an audiobook arc, and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

Two agents on opposite sides of a time war. Enemy pen-pals with secrets and lots of pining. I loved the letters between Red & Blue, but otherwise this isn't necessarily a favorite read of mine. 

I'm not going to lie, I don't remember all of the character's names at this point lol

But, this is a multiple pov crime syndicate thriller. The story begins with the ending, while the bulk of the book converges povs to show what led up to the event in the beginning. You follow a guy who learns the effects of the syndicate in his life and the control that it has on everybody he knows; the syndicate boss' son is another pov; the son's lover, and his "friend".

I thought this was a decent crime thriller, I was definitely looking forward to seeing how the event in the beginning even came to. It did get tedious going back to the 80s to the mid 2000s, but at the same time I can appreciate that it makes sense to the story and how the syndicate operates. 

For the 18+ crowd who also like monsters <3

alright.. I'm catching up on reviews of books I read this month <3

I had so much fun with this book earlier this month!! I adored Orpheus and Reia so much. This one is a medium burn, but slow-burn for a standalone. I initially started reading this one because it was inspired by Ancient Magus Bride, which is one of my favorite anime. Orpheus is super sweet and doesn't understand humans as much as he should - which very much reminds me of Elias from AMB. I loved how sweet and fluffy this book got, with tender and intimate moments outside of the spicy stuff, which there is a bit of that too lol I also really like the magical, cottagecore vibes that this book gives off.

I'm excited to see what's next in the book, especially that it's about one of the characters introduced in this one <3 

 I don't really have words for this final book in the series right now. Maybe the second time I read this I can do an update with a better review. But I'm on the verge of tears at the moment. I feel like I read these character's round trip into hell. I also know from the fandom, that Abercrombie never goes through the same POV twice and just agh. Just the last 50 pages were absolutely crushing. The characters are so well fleshed out, villians and anti-heros all around. Keeping up with a line of chess moves coming into place. I'll definitely go back and read his past books and look forward to any of his future books. I'm eager to see how Rikke's last vision will play out.

 

I really enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series!!

Spice Road is seen through Imani's point of view, as she and several others embark on a journey to learn the truth of what happened to her brother Atheer. With this being said, you know only what Imani knows until things are brought to light and I really enjoy that, as it kept me on my toes trying to figure out what was going to happen next or how people felt, react, etc. I enjoyed that there are different abilities, or affinities, to Qalia's spice magic. To which Imani doesn't know how powerful some people are, including herself. Imani is often clueless of what is going on outside of her bubble as she grieved her brother for so long, but soon learns things across the Forbidden Wastes. There is some romantic tension between some of the characters, but is definitely not the main plot- but I'm excited to see what happens with that for sure!!

Overall, I would definitely recommend this, especially to those who enjoyed The Stardust Thief and We Hunt the Flame! I'll definitely be on the look out for the next book, I gotta see what happens with the ending of this one!! 

Disclaimer: I received Spice Road as an ARC and I'm voluntarily leaving this review. 

I absolutely loved this one! 

"The Cards, The Mist, The Blood." 

A dark, gloomy atmosphere. The main character, Elspeth, dealing with an unknown entity inside her head. It was gothic to its core with the imagery, a disease, supernatural powers, ancient entities. I really loved the concept of magic in this one being 12 Providence Cards, each has a power to grant, but can also take from the user the longer it's used. There are others that can be infected and gain unknown magical abilities that are shunned and illegal in Blunder. With magic, everything comes at a price.

I really enjoyed reading this book from Elspeth's POV, you rarely know what's going on outside of what she knows and I enjoy that in a book. I loved everybody in the Yew castle, Ravyn, Jespyr, and ahhh Elm, I love Elm lol I'm excited to see what comes next in the second book, especially after that ending!!

Not into the celebrity/actor romance and generally not vibing with contemporary romances lately

"What's easily given... is easily took away."

I'm really trying to take my time reading this series and to enjoy the ride that is the Age of Madness. Trouble with Peace obviously takes up where you left off from A Little Hatred. A Civil War on the fringes of a couple battles won. Orso really was something else, trying to face down people who fault him for inheriting what his father, and his father's father did in the past. Rikke straight taking everything in her hands. Leo as always wanting glory and being easily led but with more stakes on his end. Savine being more involved than Leo ever thought. You can't go wrong with a love quadrant who are on opposite sides of a war. Secrets are revealed, people are betrayed, loss in the thousands. 

There are more players in this book, still love Broad, but I did end up enjoying Vick and Clover's pov by the end. I'm excited to see how all this goes down in the next book.