cozysabie's Reviews (183)

"I figure dreams are like stray cats, which will go away if I quit feeding them."

Starling House is a lovely book that's a good mixture between fantasy, thriller & suspense. This book hooked me in from the beginning and I wanted to know more about Opal, Arthur and Starling House in the city of Eden, where everything is cursed and everyone looks away. This quote describes Eden perfectly:

"Small towns are supposed to be cozy and friendly, like perfect little snow globes, but me and Jasper have always been kept on the other side of the glass."

Somehow, this fiction book deals with a lot of important topic but the biggest lesson focuses on those who have suffered and everyone who has turned a blind eye to their suffering. Following the story through Opal & Arthur's journey, coming to understand what made them stand out & how they come to be and their relationship development is truly special and unique. I'll end my short review with a quote that left an impression:

"Maybe that's all a good ghost story is: a way of handing out consequences to the people who never got them in real life."

Thank you to NetGalley & Pan Macmillan for the Arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

"For in this world, the truth is often a slippery thing, and the secrets we keep can be the most dangerous of all."

GENRE: Fantasy
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc
Would I recommend to others?: Its a fast paced fantasy book that has noble families fighting each other and certain political aspect to it! I'd recommend it to those looking for a fantasy, fast paced book!

Review:
This was definitely a fast paced Fantasy book that you can read in between heavy books. Usually, this falls under a 3 star rating for me. I definitely liked how Fox built a world where noble families are fighting and it comes down to a few members to save the day. The story was straightforward and you could see development and growth in the main character, Hermione.

Hermione has grown her entire life focusing on her marriage proposal and how that will contribute to her family. Yet, when it comes down to it, she is left to save her family and others from a war that has been brewing for many years.

I definitely enjoyed the conversation between Hermione and seeing how she developed. I also really enjoyed meeting some of the characters in their younger versus older selves. I did think the book could have gone deeper into some of the themes. However, I will definitely be reading a book two if it comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley for an Arc for my honest opinion.

"The Moon is a friend for the lonely and the brokenhearted."

GENRE: Romance with Dark Academia Vibes
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
FORMAT: eBook Beta Reader
Would I recommend to others?: YES! This book is beautiful, lyrical and touches on so many deep topics.

Short Review:
I loved TCOF so much, I got sucked in and loved meeting Nova and Atlas and getting to know them more. You go through the journey with them and get to know them, know what happened to hurt them and how they overcame that. If you can, I'd read my long review as this book is beautiful in ways I cant describe in just a few words. In summary though, I used to be a romance reader and shifted to fantasy in 2023 and I couldnt skip on beta reading this book as the blurb alone got me intrigued and I have no regret at all in reading this book and its one of my top 2023 read!

Long Review:
The consequences of falling touches on many themes, including grief, learning to love again and astronomy. Nova loves the stars and the moon as if they are her own companions and the reason to that is her mom loved them and taught her about it before passing away.

Amongst the darkening skies and the looming stars, Nova spoke of the love charted abaft the clouds. She told of Perseus and Andromeda, lovers—fated and written in the stars above. She spoke animatedly as though they were friends rather than celestial entities.

TCOF covers grief in a beautiful yet relatable way. The way Liliana writes about grief, it resonated in a way that wasnt too overly lyrical yet it was beautiful.

Following the journey of Atlas and Nova is the main plot in book one and getting to know them individually and then together was done so well in TCOF. We get chapters from both point of views and we learn about their history, what makes them unique and what brings them together in their thinking and behaviour. You can also feel the love they have for each other by the end of the story. It had me giggling and wanting more.

We also get to know more about the town of Sailor Ridge and about the people and it has such cozy vibes with a dash of cottagecore. Its the type of town that you'd want to settle in and be friends with Nova & Atlas as they grow old together.

“You and me?” He speaks out in the silence. 
“You and me,” Nova whispers.

Thank you to Liliana for giving me the opportunity to be a beta reader for TCOF in exchange for my honest review.

GENRE: Fantasy
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc
Would I recommend to others?: YES!

"To every person whose wings have been cut off. There will always be strength in your weakness."

"Two keys: one white as snow and the other black as the night itself. Light and darkness. They were bound by an extremely thing, fragile, almost imperceptible rope."

Review:
This book was wonderful! This is written by two authors: L.C and Denna and it is written in 2 POVs, one character for each author. I am only mentioning this from the very beginning as usually, you would notice a bit of changes in author style but this book read through as if its written by one author, which I loved!

This is a high fantasy book set in the world of Len Rajya and the world building is done in such a nice way that it doesnt feeling overwhelming (more than usual because we all know with fantasy, book one tends to either be jam packed with information about the world or just not enough).

We then meet Darcia Voreia & Naithea and follow their two separate POVs as we go through their life. Honestly, I loved Naithea, how much of a strong FMC she is (Darcia is super strong too but I connected with Naithea more). We watch them yearn for a family and for acceptance but they learn as they go to not accept mistreatment. Here are some quotes showing you just how amazing both FMCs are & all they have gone through:

"Some feared the monster under the bed, other the monster hiding inside the closet. Darcia feared the monster she lived with and could never get rid of."

"Ever since she was a child, she had taken on these chores, because part of her believed that, if she did them without complaint, no one would ever leave her again."

I would recommend this book to anyone who like High Fantasy & enjoys multiple POVs. It is a lovely book and was a solid 4 star read for me. I genuinely enjoyed it and cant wait for book two. The only thing that I did wish book one had more of was

Spoiler

if the sisters met sooner so that we could see their relationship grow & build up

but I know I'm just being an annoying reader & we will see more of that in the next upcoming book. I'll leave you with another one of my favourite quote:

"Escaping from reality, even the most miserable souls can find a refuge."

“Maybe what we broke can’t be pieced back together again.”

“He believes I’m letting go.
But our soul are tethered. Bound in a fate that desires us both.”
— September 1910

“Maybe instead of things happening to me, I’m the one drawn to Chas? That when things are calm, I stand in the middle of the road waving a bright red flag, begging trouble to find me.”

GENRE: Romantasy
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐.75/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc
Would I recommend to others?: I think a lot of romantasy fans would enjoy this so yes I'd recommend it to them!

Review:
Isle of Wolves is a Slavic Folklore and if you have been following my journey and book reviews, you know that I love eastern folklore and I was super excited to read this book. This book follows Olena, who hunts vicious monsters in her village with her team. At the same time, they all have these monsters inside of them and it is guaranteed that one day, the monster in them all will wake up. The folklore behind this is explored throughout the book and we follow Olena as she navigates the burdens of being a hunter & getting betrayed by her boyfriend and having her mother in the hospital. We also navigate Olena’s world in terms of friendship and it made me remember how different & vulnerable we are in our teenage years.

“Good friends hold grudges in your name.”

I enjoyed going through the journey with Olena, getting to learn more about her and her village. I enjoyed learning about the Vovkulaka and understanding this folklore. This was definitely a fast paced book and the adventures kept building up, with one thing leading to another. Daune manages to do this without it feeling overwhelming and I quite enjoyed the fast pace. I also really loved the quotes in the beginning of each chapter and under the chapter number and legit highlighted maybe 90% of them. Here are some of my favourite ones:

“I stopped a heart. Stilled a breathe. Painted the forest red. Still, I am empty without you.”

“I wonder if I am my mother. I wonder if I am my father. I wonder, if they knew what I would become, would they have plunged in the sea instead?”

“The gods are cruel, sticking monsters in us who want to play in a world built to destroy us.”

“Some days the hate is stronger than the love we share”

I think what I would’ve liked a little more and what would push the rating from 3.75 to a 4 is having more folklore introduction and understanding the background behind it. I have no prior knowledge to this folklore and haven’t read it before (speaks to how unique this book is!) and would have just loved to learn more about it in general. I would have also loved to learn more about the world outside of the island that Olena lives in and understand the relationship of the folklore to these different parts and pieces of the story.

Finally, Isle of Wolves goes into the idea of heartbreak and living with what our loved ones do or commit and we see character & plot development throughout the book in this regard. I thoroughly loved getting to know the characters and understanding why they all did what they did. It is so hard to undo the pain & the heartbreak and we watch Olena grow and try to understand that:

“I need to stop trying to fit our broken pieces together. But as I glance his way and he smiles, I’m a girl on a cliff, afraid of letting go.”

All in all, I think this was a lovely and fantastic story and I can’t wait to read more from the author! Thank you for the eArc from the author in exchange for my honest review.