There was....a lot happening in this book and I felt myself getting lost repeatedly. I still want to give the show a chance and maybe go back and try the short story prequels, but for now I just need a break.

Dnf at 50%

Nothing could’ve prepared me for how much this book would ruin me. I’m a total mythology nerd, but I’ve never read anything as beautifully written as this.

High 3.5! Rereading this series is amazing. I completely forgot how annoying Zoe was, but once you see why, you understand. I also really loved the Atlas appearance and the “holding up the sky” sequence. Seeing Luke lose himself is also a definite journey.

3.5, but I don’t think I’m feeling generous enough to bump it up to a 4 right now. I will say I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. I tried reading Holly Black’s Tithe yeeears ago in middle school when it came out and it was a bit of a miss for me. This time, my trip into Faerieland was definitely more enjoyable. I wasn’t sure about Jude in the beginning but she grew on me a bit (is she a little irritable, yes, but can’t accuse her of being weak either). I definitely look forward to seeing what happens with her, Cardan (cardan’s tail), and her plan in The Wicked King. Also, give me more of The Bomb!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I know middle grade isn’t everyone’s thing, which is fine because guess what? It’s not written to please adults! The name of the genre speaks for itself, but I for one, love a good middle grade book because they are just as entertaining, if not even more so because authors aren’t obligated to be serious or poignant or any of those things, even if some middle grades have those characteristics. My point is middle grade books are fun okay and this one was no exception. From the moment I saw the cover, I knew I had to read this book. Dragons, Chinese mythology, an #ownvoices author, kids kicking major ass???? I NEEDED IT!!

12 year old Faryn Liu and her brother Alex have been outcasts from the Jade Society forthe past few years for 2 reasons. 1) Their father disappeared on a journey a few years before in order to continue ridding the world of demons, though according to the Jade Society there were none anymore and their only responsibilities as warriors included making money and terrorizing others. By leaving, he was directly disobeying the Jade Society and saying they were wrong. Big no no. 2) Faryn and Alex are of mixed blood. While their father is full blooded Chinese, their mother was Greek, Egyptian and a few other things, making them “mutts” in the Jade Society’s eyes. Yes...yes there is some prejudice and racism going on here and several times both of them are referred to as unclean, disgraces, etc. etc. all because of their mixed blood and how different they look from everyone else. Neither are allowed to train with the other young warriors and so their grandfather trains them whenever he can, just like their father did, even though he’s sick. It turns out that this is the best thing he could have ever done. A demon attacks during the Chinese New Year celebration while Faryn is picking up her grandfather’s medicine. She manages to kill it with the help of a mysterious stranger, but it becomes clear to her that things are changing. Turns out, she’s right. The gods haven’t disappeared or abandoned them as they thought and neither had the demons. Now it’s up to the Heaven Breaker to complete the mission from the gods and make it to the Jade Emperor’s feast and become the leader of his army. Good news: Faryn is the Heaven Breaker and her father’s notebook is the key to figuring this all out. Bad news: The Jade Society is still hellbent on proving how unworthy she is and stopping her from completing the mission. Now it looks like Faryn is up against the same obstacles along with new magical ones and she’ll need her family and her friends to get through this before the end comes.

Reading this was so much fun. The mythology of the dragon warriors and how they were created to fight demons and keep people safe and yet somehow had become both greedy and lazy was a great idea. It was sort of a fallen hero trope, except everyone was the fallen hero except for our main characters. I thought that the racism was portrayed in a great way. You could feel just how hurtful it was for Faryn and her brother and see how innate it can be in a culture that is POC itself. I also thought it was great that even though the gods were upset with the Jade Society and the humans for turning against their warrior heritage and becoming corrupt, in a lot of ways, the warriors were a reflection of the gods themselves. The very things that the gods were upset about, they were doing themselves. The relationship between Faryn and Alex was great, however, after a certain point in the book it becomes clear that he resents Faryn and is changing drastically, though it’s never really clear what is causing this. Some of his outbursts and change in personality seemed out of nowhere and weren’t really explained. I had a feeling about what may have been going on and I think that’s what the author was going for in the end, however, I still don’t think it was explained completely. It’s never made clear whether the force behind the ending was doing this all along or started at the end and if Alex’s earlier outbursts were his own. Still, the ending was a great set up for a follow-up novel and I would love to continue this story. Katie Zhao did not shy away from tough subjects like death, racism, classism, or corruption, but managed to incorporate them in a way that doesn’t alienate her audience or talk down to them just because this is geared towards a younger audience. Great work honestly and if you haven’t picked up The Dragon Warrior since its release on October 15th, I highly recommend checking it out.

I've never read anything by Talia Hibbert, but dammit, she is officially on my new favorite authors list. First of all, I didn't expect this to be a true adult story with characters in their 30s. That was a very pleasant surprise for me because that'll be me in a couple years. Anyway anyway anyway Talia, you have a new stan so yeah.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown is just......damn it’s amazing. Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this amaaaaaazing opportunity to read a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Want my opinion? Run, don’t walk, to pick up this book when it’s officially released on November 5th of this year. This has got to be one of the best books I've read this year and I feel so privileged to have been able to read it before it's release. It’s fun, hilarious, has amazingly written smut, and has to be one of the cutest and yet consciously written romance novels I’ve ever read. Like seriously, Talia Hibbert let the world know that consent is sexy and so we have no choice but to stan.

31 year old Chloe Brown is the epitome of a sharp tongued, sarcastic, funny pain in the ass and honestly can she be my friend already? She feels as though her life has stopped ever since she learned of her fibromyalgia and lives with chronic pain. Having an ailment that no one can see isn’t easy and Chloe makes that very clear when she relays her experiences and describes her daily life. After a near death experience she sets her mind on changing her life and not letting her pain or diagnosis stop her from living, so she creates a list because, let’s face it, when your life flashes before your eyes and there’s nothing to see, you have to get your shit together.

Everything is going according to plan until she meets Redford Morgan, a ginger artist who drips sarcasm and sex appeal. Chloe’s hellbent on staying away from him because he’s nothing but trouble and she’s can’t afford that sort of attraction right now, but of course fate has a different plan in mind and it all begins with a cat named Smudge. As a quick side note Smudge is one of my favorite characters in this book and that's that on that.

I won’t give away too many details because I’m fresh off of my reading and I don't want to ruin all of the surprises and great moments, but I’ll just say that this was such a great story. Chloe wasn't a perfect character, but she was so relatable that it hurt. One thing that I absolutely loved was Red's thoughts on Chloe's glasses. Should he take them off to kiss her? Will she leave them on during sex? These are real ass questions and the answer is DO NOT REMOVE MY GLASSES BECAUSE I NEED THEM TO SEE WHAT WE'RE DOING.

Talia managed to put together an amazing adult romance plot, include chronic illness, make consent sexy and all around create a guy who wasn’t perfect, but was perfectly flawed because the way he took Chloe’s wants and needs in life into consideration. Not to mention, clearly Mr. Redford knows how to please a woman. GIVE ME A REDFORD NOW!!!

I think that's pretty much all there is to say. Please please please go and pick up Get a Life, Chloe Brown when it gets released in November and please also come back and tell me what you think.

DNF @ 50% because I just could not get into this and I couldn't take it any longer. Sorry not sorry.