proseamongstthorns's Reviews (946)

Wow. 

This is everything The Secret History promised to be but didn’t deliver. A queer, dark academia with heavy emphasis on the dark.

Paul is different. He observes the world in a detached sort of way, he’s smart, has a strong belief in his viewpoint of morality and is quick to anger. Julian is just as smart as he is, wealthy and sees something in Paul.

Their relationship happens all at once and progresses slowly. From the beginning, they have an understanding of each other that defies words. You know immediately that they’re bonded in some fated way.

This book dives in with a prologue that hooks you. And this promise of darkness and violence to come lingers throughout the book. You know it’s coming, somehow, and it’s a heavy presence. 

Paul is desperate for Julian’s approval and can never believe it when it comes. Julian loves Paul in a way words can’t convey and never seems to sound truthful.

At it’s core is the type of love that’s all-consuming, debilitatingly so. It’s an obsession with each other and one that seems inevitably to lead to violence. There’s something in abject here (you know, how everyone turns to look at a car crash even though we know we shouldn’t and know it’s bad, but we can’t not look) and I was obsessed with it. 

I was so sucked into this world, it was hard putting it down. For those people who loved The Secret History, who like dark academia and books that border on character study. This is a brutal book in many ways, with an unflinching honesty that you can’t not enjoy. And it published yesterday so it’s the perfect opportunity to pick it up!

This is a very strong contender for best book of 2025. 

I really wanted to love this but it just didn’t hit. I couldn’t connect with Theo for the entirety of their pov section and couldn’t get past the fact it’s two privileged rich kids having rich kid problems.

There were moments of greatness of course, fab banter, moments of real chemistry and some great spicy scenes. I loved the food aspect and concept, but the wines went over my head. 

This was one of my last reads of the year and it was a fab one to wrap-up with! This witchy romance is the perfect cozy vibes that would be perfect year round.

Even though this is very firmly a romantasy, and quite a funny one at that, the romance didn’t feel forced or too in your face. Finally reunited after 10 years about, it felt absolutely perfect.

Rather than some cheesy, the answer is love solution or the type of love that becomes all-consuming. Nate genuinely just believes in Scarlett and this unwavering support drives her. To see the two of them complimenting each other perfectly rather than ‘completing’ each other was really refreshing.

And whilst this does have some pretty cozy, small town witch vibes it also manages to deal with some of the bigger stuff too. It explores grief, guilt and the weight of expectation.

The town is under threat, magic is going terribly wrong - as are all of Scarlett’s attempts to fix it. And the sleuthing to solve what’s going on will grab your attention even if the romance doesn’t. I loved exploring the magic system and the world it’s in. I’d love to return to it with some of the other characters.

In short, this is a lovely rom-com that perfectly balances tension with humour. It’s got a brilliant romance at the heart of it and characters that could step off the page they’re so lifelike. I really loved reading this one!

I was really enjoying this one! Such a fun concept with funny characters and the most believable siblings I’ve ever seen. But, I felt that the ‘climax’ felt rushed and fizzled. I wanted more and I found the ending left us with far too many questions. 

A 3 star for me means it’s a solid read.

I enjoyed this one, but it didn’t blow me away. It was very similar to Amari and the Night Brothers, but I felt it moved a little too quickly to really get me invested from the start. 

Still, this was great fun and a fab audiobook. 

I enjoyed this, but it felt very surface level. I wanted it to delve deeper than similar case studies. 

‘A Language of Dragons’ by S.F Williamson is a freaking masterpiece! Dark(ish) academia meets Bletchley Park meets… dragons?

Vivian Featherswallow is a really interesting protagonist. She’s ambitious and knows what she wants - study dragon languages and be the youngest to do it. And then her parents are arrested for treason and her priorities shift. She ends up taking a ‘mysterious’ job and her life and the lives of her family are literally on the line!

In this world, dragons and humans live alongside each other in a London where humans are split into three classes and can never mix. I found the world building really powerful and so interesting so learn about the segregation at play.

And we have such diverse characters with really unique motivations. We meet some actual rebels and Viv’s world view is really challenged. She has a lot of tough decisions to make and unlike in so many books she actually really thinks about them.

This was just fun! (Apart from the ending, I’m not sure if I’ll ever forgive Williamson for that.) Relationships are done so well here. This is a must for fantasy, academia and dragon fans. It’s a love letter to languages and translating.

It’s beautiful. Why is Pulley’s writing so perfect? I mean, if I had a fraction of her writing ability I’d be flying. 

Another banger. I cannot yet form words about this.

I laughed, I cried, I shipped too hard. Pulley always created these weird little characters that are so lovable, you want to reach in and hug them. Then writes romances that are just too good.

This is kind of forced marriage, with kind of enemies-to-lovers on Mars and there’s Mammoths. Add weird and wonderful animal sidekicks to the list of Things Pulley excels at™️.

Pulley never, ever misses.