pickI really got a kick out of being in those versions of London again. I missed Delilah Bard! The world and characters have always reminded me a bit of Dickens with magic. I recommend reading the Shades of Magic series first, if you haven't already. This was a 650 page book, and I almost missed my Libby return deadline, so plan accordingly.
panTFTOP is supposedly the first book in a new series, but about 50 pages in I realized it‘s actually a continuation of The Shades of Magic trilogy. As someone who didn‘t read the original books, I felt lost. The book is probably more entertaining if you read the prior stories first.
World Building ✨ Political ✨ Abilities
Who wore it better? 🤭💕📚
And here's the Illumicrate special edition! 😍 This one is a little simpler than the Owlcrate edition, but I think I might like this one a little bit more because it perfectly matches the original covers of the first three books! 💕📚 #illumicrate
Bk9 of my recent #BookMail is this absolutely stunning signed edition. A sequel to ADSOM trilogy, it‘s set 7yrs past those events. The Antari, Kell & Delilah are hardly seen anymore. In Hollands absence, another Antari has risen in White London taking the throne & is willing to feed her city with blood but her growing religious fervour threatens to drown them instead. In Red London, King Rhy is facing a rising rebellion.
My Owlcrate special edition of The Fragile Threads of Power arrived and I am absolutely blown away by how gorgeous it is! 😱 When the box arrived I was so excited I had to take it with me to open at work because I couldn't wait until I got home! 💕📚 #owlcrate
The tagged book was my favorite fiction read of October—and what a fantastic return to the characters/world of Shades of Magic it is—and Underground was easily my favorite nonfiction book. Highly recommend both as well as some of my other favorites in October. 28 books, too many comics to count. Fall weather giving me plenty of reasons to stay inside reading!
#Two4Tuesday
1. Tagged book was my favorite. I also really enjoyed Our Fathers by Rebecca Wait and O Caledonia by Elsbeth Barker.
2. No plans other than handing out candy…except even that plan may be upended. We are under a winter weather advisory with 1-3 inches of snow possible in the next couple of hours. 😬❄️🎃❄️
@TheSpineView
November BOTM choices - I wasn‘t that excited by the November picks, but it‘s my birthday month so I didn‘t want to lose my add-on credit.
I picked What the River Knows, partially because it‘s long (for some reason I feel like I‘m getting more bang for my buck with 400+ page books) and the plot did seem a right up my alley. Picked the tagged as my birthday add-on as I love the Shades of Magic series, and now I can cancel my Libby hold.
pickSo I read to page 50 and was ready to DNF until I read the Darker Shade of Magic series. A week later, I started over, slowed down, and was soon immersed in these magical London worlds. My plan however is to read the originating series before continuing on with book 2 of this set because I‘d love to know the backstories.
pickOh. My. God. Let‘s be honest I had EXTREMELY high hopes for this book. It‘s the spin-off to one of my favourite book series ever. It holds some of my favourite characters ever. It‘s written by one of my favourite authors. So, you can imagine the stakes. And yet. IT DELIVERED. I cannot express with words how BRILLIANT this book is. VE Schwab said that it‘s meant to feel like coming home. And it does.
5⭐️
“You see why I must leave you? There is so much love up there.”
“There is nowhere you go,” said the Antari to her prince, “that I cannot follow.”
She sighed in relief. “You came.”
Kell stepped into the room, the black ring‘s cord swinging from his fingers. “You called.” He smiled a little as he said it. That smile felt nice.
They did not seem to understand that sometimes living came with risks.
“You are my family. Surely that matters more than any crown.”
Stopped in today to check out the new French bakery that opened up in my town! I'M OFFICIALLY OBSESSED! I got a delicious breakfast sandwich (egg and cheese on a croissant) and the best hot chocolate I have ever had in my life! I think I found my new favorite place to read and eat! 🥰📚💕
It's always such a joy to return to Schwab's writing and her worlds! 💕📚💕
When I started this one, I was really excited about getting to spend time with characters I already know and love - Kell, Rhy, Alucard, and of course Lila Bard! But what I hadn't counted on was falling in love with the new characters just as hard!
Is anyone else reading this right now? What are your thoughts?
pickJust as good as I hoped & a welcome return to a fascinating world populated by unforgettable characters. Schwab‘s growth as a writer is on full display in this story told from a multitude of POVs that bounce through time but which are, fortunately, easy to distinguish & follow. The result is a rousing adventure, a where they were then/where they are now story that ends the only way it possibly could & which leaves you counting down until Book 2.😍
pickOMG! I don't know how I'm going to wait for book 2 of this new(ish) trilogy. All the threads are not tied in a bow at the end. As a matter of fact, like the first book in a trilogy, there is barely a bow in sight, and I love it.
I read this after the Darker Shades read-a-long and with a friend. She is only approaching the halfway point, and I am bursting at the seams!
“Hang the laws,” said Lila Bard, “if they are all that‘s in your way.”
“What am I now?” he‘d asked, angry, and frightened, and in pain.
And Tieren had cupped his cheek and said, “You are alive. Isn‘t that enough?”
“Nowhere to run,” he pointed out.
“You‘d be surprised.”
“What will you do?”
Kosika studied the solitary candle, it‘s light barely reaching the walls. What will I do? she wondered, and then held out her hand, not toward the single, burning flame, but the hundred darkened candles lining the alcove. She flexed her fingers, and the tapers burst to life, fire spreading in a wave until the entire space blazed with light.
“Once a servant,” said Kosika, standing before the altar, “then a king.” She drew her knife. “At last, a saint.”
“How lucky we are,” he said softly, “that after every winter, we are rewarded with a spring.”
“I believe that if we do live on, it is in those we love.”
The effortlessness with which this book reads belies the effort that clearly went into writing it. Which is to say, one of Schwab‘s super powers is obviously the ability to fit words together so perfectly all you can think as you read is “Of COURSE this word should come after that word which came after the one before it…” I don‘t know if what I am saying makes any sense. Might be easier to just say this book is really, really good. So good…
“Brother,” said Rhy, holding him tight. And unlike the coat, and all the other trappings of Kell‘s old life, this one, at least, still fit.
Rhy laughed, blood spilling through gritted teeth. “Haven‘t you heard?” he said softly, dragging himself upright. “I‘m the Unkillable King.”
“We all don clothes that do not fit, and hope we will grow into them. Or at least, grow used to them.”
“I do not know if you will be a great king, Rhy Maresh. Only time will tell. But I believe with all my heart that you will be a good one.”
”No one is born knowing how to lead.”
Rhy felt small and scared. “How do they do it then?”
“They learn. They err. They try again. They fail. The worst rulers see their country as a game of Rasch, the men and women only pieces on their board. But you—“ His hand came to rest on Rhy‘s shoulder. “—you will love them. You will bleed with them. You will hurt them. A piece of you will die with them. The rest of you will live.”
At that, Lila muttered a quiet “Fuck.”
“Ever the poet.”
“I‘ve found that people are fools. Showing them your power is like showing them your hand at cards. Make them guess at it instead, and they‘ll almost always guess wrong.”
“Not every blade belongs to you,” he said.
“It does if I can take it.”
No wonder she had made it here, he thought. Delilah Bard was a force of nature. The world hasn‘t simply opened for her. It has been cleaved, parted like skin beneathher knife.
“You‘re not armed.”
“Kell,” she said with a pitying grin. “I think you know me better than that.”
The Fragile Threads of Power | 
