Thank you for the lovely #NaughtyListHolidaySwap, @BarkingMadRead ! I'm so excited to read the books, the bookmarks are awesome, and the decorative sign is perfect for the "Spirits and Spirits" (ghost stories and cocktails) party we're hosting this weekend!
And thank YOU for hosting #nlhs, @WildAlaskaBibliophile and @TieDyeDude !
When I was seven winters of age, my mother caught me in the hearth stacking red-hot coals with my bare hands.
#OfFireAndStars #AudreyCoulthurst #firstline #openingline #Fantasy #YoungAdult #LGBT #Romance #Queer #Lesbian #Fiction #YoungAdultFantasy #HighFantasy #Magic
March #12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo
so-soA visually impressive book which was a low pick for me. The author tries to hype the characters but they fall short. I really wanted to like this book.
The cover is a work of art! 🥹
pickI had a complicated relationship with this and for a while was just reading because a friend recommended it. It took too long for the author to invite me into the story (2 hours), I hated how many sections there were before chapter 1, and a lot of stuff felt unnecessary in the begging. After about 10 hours I did start enjoying things and looking forward to what happened next. I wish the women had more page time or there were more women leads.
so-soThe Twelfth Enchantment is a slow burn—maybe too slow for its length—but the third act saves it. Lucy, cheated out of her inheritance and pushed toward marriage, is drawn into a hidden supernatural war after a mysterious stranger arrives with a message for her. Written in a Jane Austen–inspired style, the dialogue shines, though the long descriptions sometimes stall the momentum.
And now!
Ladies, gentlemen, and Fey!
#TheCircusRose #BetsyCornwell #Fantasy #YoungAdult #Retellings #LGBT #Queer #Romance #Lesbian #YoungAdultFantasy #FairyTales #Fiction
I started on this on Christmas morning, while waiting for my wife to get up (we got to bed late because of Christmas prep, but I can't sleep in on Christmas morning). I was tearing through it, already pouting about the wait for the next volume because stuff won't be shipped for a few days...
Look what my sister-in-law (to be) got me for Christmas! Whew...
Feat. my “new old friend“, a little plush Hythlodaeus from FFXIV, which my wife got me. 😁
I did it again 🫣
Sorry, life got busy and I fell off posting again, but I'm back for some post holiday fun!
Here's my holiday haul of books, and I will be back again with a couple of lingering reviews from December soon.
Many warm holiday wishes everyone!
This was my only five-star book in January, so I think it takes this spot by default! Sarah Caudwell's Thus Was Adonis Murdered is a close runner-up, but I loved that this was a self-contained story with relatively personal stakes and small daily magics.
The way Tao's ability works and her attempts to pick out small, less-consequential fortunes (which nonetheless can tug on big threads despite her efforts) was fascinating.
#12BooksOf2025
