You can see all my reviews here: Books Are The New Black

I got an email about downloading this arc and downloaded it right away!! I’m a newer Swiftie.. more like a few years. I don’t know her whole back long yet or all her Easter eggs. I figured this would be a lot of fun to try and decode!

There are so many amazing poems in this one! I enjoyed so many of them, but you don’t necessarily have to be a Taylor Swift fan to enjoy them. I feel like a lot of of them weren’t so obvious and harder to decode. I had a hard time and only a few were very obvious. I think there are many here that fans of poetry would enjoy, even if they don’t like Taylor. It’s also fun for fans though!

My biggest issue with this book is that there is no answer key!! I would LOVE to know what song influenced each poem and re-read them knowing that. I wish there was a code at the back or something. I hope one day she will release this information to help us out! I feel like some of these poems would have bigger impacts if they know Taylor’s lyrics, but not the biggest poetry fans.

I did enjoy this one and I think many of her fans will too! Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for an arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

 You can see all my reviews here: Books Are The New Black

I have been looking forward to this book because I adore Mische! She’s my favorite, and I knew her story would be heartbreaking and hard to read. I was not wrong!

Mische is desperately trying to find herself since becoming a vampire. Her relationship with Atroxis has been shaky throughout the first two books. She was pretty much groomed into following Atroxis. Her faith in him has never wavered, but since becoming a vampire, he’s pretty much abandoned her. She has just a little of his power, but there are terrible consequences when using her power. She’s still so sure that she will win back his love and devotion by following him and never wavering in her faith in him. We see how this relationship started and what it entails. It’s so hard to read, to be honest. She was eight years old when he choose her. Are you kidding me!? Gross. We learn how it unfolds, how she loses people, her choices, and her struggle to stay on the path of the sun. It was emotional at so many points, and I understand her so much more. Everything makes so much sense after reading this one.

Then we have Asar. Oh my gosh, he has probably jumped up to my favorite love interest in a long time. He’s also got so much baggage, and we are slowly figuring him out. The more we learn, the more things come together. I loved his character from the very beginning. He’s so much more than meets the eye. I adored his relationship with his ‘dog’ Luce. There’s much more I want to say about his and Mische’s relationship, but I don’t want to get into spoilers.

Mische and Asar travel to the underworld. Each of them has a mission from their god and does not share their true intentions. Of course, as they go further into what feels like absolute hell, they realize things about themselves, each other, and their gods. I loved every single minute of this book. It was hard to put down because there is so much that happens! There is never a dull moment!

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone lived up to every expectation I had and more. It was heartbreaking, beautiful, and full of so much action! I had so many moments that shocked me! It is going to be a long wait for their next book! I can’t wait to see where this goes because it was a brilliant read!

Thank you to Tor Books/Bramble & Netgalley for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own! 

 You can see all my reviews here: Books Are The New Black

I haven’t read anything by this author before. I thought this would be a good way to get a sense for her writing style. I’m not sure if her writing is for me. It could also be that short stories are not her strong suit. There were many that started off very slow and then ramped up with a quick ending. By the time I got into the story it was over. Here’s a little rating breakdown of each story:

The wish bridge – 3
The audit – 2
Sucker for pain – 4
The animation games – 3
The house – 4.5
To make a man – 3
Preexisting condition – 2
Monsterlove – 3
How to dispel friends and curse people – 3
Fates and consequences – 4
Sous vide 3
Sensual tales for carnal pleasures 3.5

This is going to be a short review. It’s so hard to review anthologies. I know there are many people that will love this. I wish I was one of them, but there were so many times I was bored. Some stories I couldn’t connect to at all. If you have enjoyed her work before, you will probably enjoy this. Overall, it was just okay, for me.

Thank you to Tor Books and Netgalley for an e-arc! All thoughts and opinions are my own.