Welcome to Litsy!

This YA Snow White retelling was a bit odd. The premise intrigued me, but I found the execution a somewhat lacking.

The complicated family relationships and allusions to various myths were nice, but the romantic sub-plot felt awkward and forced, and I found the lack of explanation or backstory for the main antagonist a bit frustrating.

Overall, this book was just okay, not one I'm likely to recommend.

This book was like a fuzzy blanket for my spirit right now.

This cozy fantasy follows an antisocial academic who is forced to leave everything she knows and start over with just some forbidden magic and her sentient talking spider plant assistant.

The characters and setting and creatures were so absolutely enchanting, I didn't want the story to ever end!

This dark and atmospheric retelling is unconventional and thought provoking, focusing on one young woman's experience trying to carve out a place for herself in a world firmly in the clutches of powerful men who distrust her.

I do understand the serious concerns with the use and portrayal of language and culture in this book, but I still think it is worth a read.

Immortal Dark was unhinged perfection! An absolute feast of tragic morally grey characters, immersive world building, tantalizing plot with a torturous, slow burn romance. Kidan was a top tier FMC and her relationship with Susenyos just chef kiss. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I bought this YA fantasy for the incredible cover. Dani escapes after being wrongly imprisoned and seeks revenge. I liked the magic system and was blindsided by the twist.

Absolutely beautiful writing and I loved the representation. But I didn't love the characters or the story as much as I was hoping to. I am interested in reading more by the author.

This was a lovely, slow burn romance. I wish I had read it before 'The Ashes and the Star Cursed King' because I would really have appreciated Lilith and Vale's characters more if I had known them ❤️

This is a dark take, wrapped in history with a little bit of magic.
As a rejected daughter, she travels to be a wife to an ambitious man with many dark secrets. As she struggles to navigate a violent, male dominated world, can she find herself again and reclaim her name and power?
3/5 read for a historical take on The Play that centers the brutality of women‘s lives. Extremely well written but not a happy read.

Less a retelling and more of an expansion of the story this was incredibly dark and yet compelling. In this reimagining lady Macbeth is a new bride, perhaps witch touched from Brittany arriving in dark Alba and seeing the starkness of the court and the violence and ambition of her new, cruel husband. There was much in this that was not for me but it was really well told and captures the darkness and fear of the original well.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I like Kell Woods‘ style of lacing together threads from different fairy tales and folklore, making her work feel both familiar and fresh. I really enjoyed “Upon a Starlit Tide”, but this didn‘t capture me in quite the same way - I struggled a bit with the pacing. It did start to get me in the mood for books that feel more like fall! 🍂🎧