Wintery Whimsy ❄️ 
Portal Fantasy 🕰
Found Family ⛄️
A Pinch of Romance 💘

I've never read The Nutcracker, nor have I seen the play. However, I have seen the Scooby-doo Nutcracker episodes, the Care Bears Nutcracker movie, and a ton of beautiful art inspired by the Nutcracker.
All of which I loved as much as Midnight in Everwood. The vibes are vibing. The cover is beautiful, and the audiobook was a wonderful listen.

Story- 4⭐️s
Narration-5⭐️s

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the eARC and RBmedia | Recorded Books for the advanced audiobook!

I read this arc in tandem with an advanced copy of the audiobook, narrated by Anna Burnett (highly reccomend!).

The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt is a gothic-adjacent mystery with magical realism centering around Harriet Hunt herself.
Burnett was brilliant in bringing Harriet's voice to life. Having a physical book or ebook wasn't necessary to enjoy and keep up with this audio. The sadness, helplessness, and anxiety was felt in full. 
Abandonment, isolation, verbal and physical abuse are only a few of the horrors Harriet experiences at the hands of men that should love and care for her. The garden is her only constant friend yet also a huge source of anxiety.  It was cathartic to follow Harriet's journey in opening herself up to trusting others and herself, all while avoiding an asylum and working around the limitations that society forces on women.

This would've been a complete 5 star read for me had we got to spend more time with Harriet's garden. Regardless, I'm still going to need a physical copy.

If you enjoyed The Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth), then The Dagger and The Flame will likely tickle your fancy.
Though it's listed as YA, I think it felt more New Adult? Either way, I had a great time.
Enemies to Lovers (a pinch of spice)
Adventure 
Mystery

3 Stars Overall
I listened to this audiobook in tandum with an eARC.
Story- 2 Stars
Narration - 4 Stars
Narrator- Aaron Mahnke 

I really liked the idea of Cabinet of Curiosities. Fun, tid-bits of history and its oddities, or curiosities. Truly, many did seem interesting.
However, one issue I had is that this book really bounces all over history. I would've preferred if it had been divided up better within each category. Maybe by timeline? Im not sure. There are categories like "People" "True Crime" and "War", to name a few, but most stories within those guidelines seemed to be very loosely relative to the category and/or eachother. It just felt very random, unrefined.
And like other reviewers have pointed out, the many Wikipedia sources sort of imply little to no research was put forth, and make the accuracy of these tales questionable.
I think I would've enjoyed it more had the tales been more like an appetizer vs. a bite-sized snack. 
The audiobook did improve my experience as Mahnke has a great presence/voice and sounds very excited and invested in his writing; making me/the reader more interested.


Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook!

3.25⭐️s
We Came to Welcome You is an eerie dive into the real-life horrors of HOA communities, white privilege, and loss of identity, mingled among some Body Snatchers-Happening hijinks.
There was a lot I liked about this, most of which occurred in the second half. The beginning felt like too slow of a build-up for me (Im impatient, so more of a me thing?). Tirado definitely does character development and eeriness well, as we experience a rollercoaster of emotions through Sol, while simultaneously being creeped out as she navigates the hellscape she finds herself in.
After trudging through the beginning, I felt the ending wrapped up too quickly. I was really enjoying the ever evolving developments within the community.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC!

Thanks to NetGalley & St Martin's Press for the eARC
and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook!
Narrator- Natalie Naudus

I think this book wasn't for me. I struggled to get through it (picking it up and putting it down for MONTHS), even with the audiobook.
A Song to Drown Rivers felt more like historical fiction than anything, which often is a miss for me. There was also a lot of "telling" vs. "showing" when it came to any potential action. Everything felt very melodramatic, too. Everything was an emergency or breathy monologue. Naudus did a great job bringing the melodrama to life it just simply wasn't for me.

The Wild Huntress is everything my dark, fairytale, loving heart needed.
Flawed Characters ✅️
Loveable Characters ✅️
Magics ✅️
The Hunt (trials trope) ✅️
Heart Break ✅️
Found Family ✅️
Welsh Mythology ✅️
Bitter Sweet Symphony✅️
There's something sweetly dark and cozy about Emily Lloyd-Jones' writing that has me craving more from this world. I was charmed by all three MCs, Branwen, Gwydion, and Pryderi. 
I loved both the friendships built and the unexpected heartache. TWH had the perfect balance of action/adventure and emotional damage, I mean, character focus.
Im glad there are other books set in this world (The Bone Houses -5 Stars and The Drowned Woods -tbr) because 1 is not enough.
My reread(s) will be soon and via audiobook bc Moira Quirk narrates!!! 🖤🖤🖤
Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for the eARC!