sassyowlreads's Reviews (910)

4.25-4.5 stars, not sure yet.

This really didn't grab me until the last third or so. I was very intrigued up to that point but would have described it as like not love. Then things really started picking up and I couldn't stop listening. I can see the ACOTAR comparison now which hopefully means the 2nd book will be even better?

This was an excellent vikings book! Pierce Brown put it on my radar in a Live he did awhile back and I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it! It was slow but a very interesting read.

4.5 stars!

As wonderful as Shadow Frost was, it didn’t have the complexity that God Storm did! The writing was even better, the plot kept surprising me but the characters are the true masterpiece. I won’t give any spoilers but Luna is a new all-time favorite character of mine! Gone is the sweet, timid, weak, virtually magic-less, handmaiden to the princess. She has been replaced with a total badass!

5 Reasons to read it:
1. Coco Ma’s writing style is:


2. There’s LGBTQ+ and BIPOC representation! Being LGBTQ+ is pretty normalized in the book and I love that.
King Eoin, God of Shadows, is dark and broody while also being witty aka the trifecta. Not to mention he’s all powerful. Where do I sign?

4. The magic system is still one of my favorites! I love that we were able to find out more about that forbidden tenth element, Shadow.

5. I have to mention the badass characters again, particularly the women. Asterin is the black-haired version of Aelin in Throne of Glass basically with way more range. Rose manages to raise her siblings and somehow keep her kingdom together. I’m not sure what exactly Killian is yet but I 100% need to see more of her in the next book because she seems like a force to be reckoned with. Then there’s Luna who is a woman after my own heart for reasons I can’t say without giving spoiling.

Thanks so much to the publisher and MTMC Tours for the arc and letting me be a part of the blog tour!

"Why would anyone buy an itchy tablecloth? The Naupures were monsters.”

I absolutely loved this book! It had it all, characters of color, humor, an intriguing magical system, swoon-worthy romance, heartache, you name it. I also really enjoyed the alternating first person POV. I think it gave the story and characters a lot more depth than if it had just been from Adraa's POV.

This is not an #ownvoices book and I’m sure the author is going to get a lot of backlash for this since it is an Indian/South Asian inspired fantasy but if you think this will be an issue for you, I recommend you read the Author’s Note first. I’m not a sensitivity reader by any means but I detected nothing offensive in this book and while I think it’s important to support authors of color, I think credit should be given to authors who attempt to break from the norm and give readers more diversity in their cast of characters whether they can claim that diversity as their own or not. A non-perfect representation is better than no representation.

See my full review and favorite quotes on my blog! Thanks so much to the author, publisher, Netgalley, and TBR & Beyond Tours for the e-arc!

"Man, does it do something to my heart that he asks which book I read instead of what movie I watched."

This was such a cute read! I loved how sweet it was and there were so many good quotes. I loved how often reading came up and the different mental and physical issues that were addressed. It was just the right amount of angsty and the ending was adorable.

"Real life is not a book, but it would sure be a whole lot easier if it was."