Just when I thought my heart couldn't break more for Philomela this volume proved me wrong!
😭😭😭😭😭😭

And then there's Alcycone... Oh my girl doing her best to protect her charge, even to the very end and I couldn't not have guessed at the rest of this volume happening the way it did.

This was such a fast paced read that for me read more like a movie.

It was entertaining and despite it being horror, it was fun to read since it was more action then blood and guts like a slasher could be and honestly it was what I was hoping for when I picked it from my TBR.

It had small town vibes, a bit of thrills and suspense, eerie clown mascot, and good for nothing teenagers vs know it all adults.
#25in2025

This one was tense and devastating.
I knew Philomela didn't have a great childhood from the past volumes, but I couldn't have imagined all this, and for her story to be laid out this way was heart wrenching.

But OMG.... Chise!! Just when you think you know her, she does something so surprising that I could never have imagined it ever!! Just shooketh!!!!

Another one off the TBR list and this was such a good surprise!!

This one had me within the first chapter and as I kept reading I was enthralled by its rich world building, full with great historical fiction, notes of myth and medieval blended to create its own lore. Not to mention the well developed characters , their dynamics between being a found family and a rag tag crew.

@Lauredhel #pantone2025
#popsugarreadingchallenge

This was a beautiful, heartbreaking, intense, and emotional read.
At different parts I want to shake Ciara, make her see her situation but that's easy for me to say as a person outside looking in.

The truth is that this book showcases a woman who for years has been belittled, worn down, isolated, and gaslight to believe the lies, take them for truth while trying to hold on to pieces of herself.

Absolutely would read another book by this author.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like the idea of Gus and Teddy considering their interactions in the previous two books but with the way that Sage has set up the groundwork in the previous two and into this story, and actually getting to read the books from both of their alternating perspectives, she changed my mind.

I found this book to be fantastically camp but also filled with a lot of depth and moments of truth and reflection that gave me moments where I paused and started to reflect and think of my own experiences.

I definitely enjoyed the audiobook but I do wish there was either different narrators or that the author would switch up their voice/ tone to give each character a different voice because it's all one note so everyone sounds the same 😅🤣

Finally got this off my TBR!!!
Never having read anything by Blake, all I had going for me was the book blurb which sounded interesting then and still now but I wasn't expecting for the book to be about 80% slow build up with the last 20% being fast paced and attention grabbing plus between 3 perspectives from the queens, jumping back n forth vying for attention

I'm intrigued enough to read the next installment thanks to the last 20%.
#25in2025

Heisuke and Kamihate were a great highlight in this volume. The fact that we never see Kamihate's face, and just the barrel of the gun was pretty hilarious, especially as the sniper has their daydreaming moments.

Plus seeing Heisuke go through survivor's guilt was not just well done but gave the character a chance to go through the motions his own way and still be there for his friends.

This was so much fun!
I loved this set of characters. Sweet little ol' people back to their old ways and honestly Joyce is quite adorable whereas Elizabeth is mysterious and a delight. I do like the ruff on Ron, he sounds like a cinnamon roll that could kill where as Ib, a bit mysterious as well but he didn't get a lot of screen time compared to the others but so far I do like this group.

#pantone2025 @Lauredhel

Well this just got very complicated and interesting.
Lots more questions than answers in this volume and honestly I'm not surprised to see that Philomena is at the center of this arc-unfortunately I feel it just takes away from Chise but I'm intrigued to see how these arcs are all connected.

Also that's such an illegal cliffhanger!

OOH well this is getting more and more interesting especially whatever is surrounding that one character. There's something about her that's similar to earlier Chise but also not.

A lot more moving of pieces in this volume but it's leading to something big as more of these students have history together than what I originally thought in the previous volumes so I can't wait for the big reveal.

I just spotted this from IG so sharing with all of you.
More info and a list of participating bookshops can be found at https://gretchenrubin.com/read25day/

What a great surprise this book was!

I picked it up on a whim after falling in love with the cover and I am so glad I did!
Story, characters, world building and the back and forth between the two main characters were really well done. I loved that Bakewell gave us a few chapters of each perspective before switching which worked well with the flow of the story.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This was my first Briscoe book and it was a solid read.
I found I liked the Mason POV chapters more overall and his character was well rounded and more interesting to me than Karina's.

I liked the overall pacing of the story, but not having read the other books in the series, the subplot of the Moonshine case was a bit meh for me but I'm sure it works in the larger sense .

#25in2025 #fromthetbr

I love how in the opener, Anya has low key been helping them out so much without saying anything or giving anything away so I'm wondering if at any point the adults will figure it out.

Yor is amazing and the fact that we see her in action, continuing from last volume, is fantastic as she gets her continued moment to showcase her skills, when most of the volumes have all been Twilight.

I liked the idea of the premise but I don't know about the chemistry between the MCs. Something felt off about them and it came across as a bit forced for the story.

I'll visit the author's other titles but I might stop reading this Monsters Ball series overall based on the two books I have read so far.

#25in2025

This was an absolute gem to read.
I've never read any Winnie the Pooh books so it was just a fun and relaxing read.
I read a chapter at a time as each one was a short story and I never really knew how sarcastic Owl actually is but this has cemented my love of these characters. Not to mention that Pooh is more than just a rumbly tumbly bear.

Milne gave them such characteristics that it's easy to see why they're so beloved.

I'm kicking myself for how long this was on my TBR and I just got to reading it!
I was able to read this fairly uninterrupted at work and I was hooked within the first chapter and just enjoyed the brisk pacing, characters and world building that pulled me and was a great read as I turned page after page.

I just placed a hold for the next book at the library! 😁

#25in2025 #pantone2025 @Lauredhel

The plot was well done and while it was mostly character driven, Aiden and Maggie's meet cute was a memorable one and one that had me laughing because I was in Maggie's position myself not that long ago 🤣 but throughout the book, I was laughing and nodding along because of some similarities. It was definitely a nice change to read of a grumpy women dating a nice man. And I mean it.

#pantone2025 @Lauredhel #25in2025

Lots more movement is happening and a lot with the kids at the college but I think we're starting to see something interesting here as it feels like this volume might be opening up to the next story arc, and maybe, a connection between the original Chise and Co. and her new friends at the college.

#25in2025 #fromthetbr

The multiple POVs was a nice change of pace and the fact that they were all from the first person perspective really let the reader in on everything in that character's head at that moment and it worked well for two of the three characters.
I really could have done without a lot of the Kaitlin chapters just because she was very much living in a rose-colored version of her younger years which honestly made me not look forward to those chapters.

I've had this one on my TBR for a while and I'm glad to have read it. It's a different take on the apocalyptic trope.

All in all, not a bad read but something about this one makes me wish for a few more pages of both scientists, not necessarily interacting with each other but something to make the overall book less of an open question mark about so many things but that could be the author's wish in the end.
#25in2025

I've lost count of how many times I've read this book.

The magic and suspense of the story that captivated me so many years ago still does and now I'm ready to find out how this story ends so I'm off to read the next one so I can finally read the last book in the trilogy.

This volume feels like a lot of filler to lead into a new arc, having to do with the Webster siblings.

Not bad setup considering that the last few volumes of Chise being at the college was leading up to this as well as all the new characters but it's starting to feel as a bit distracting from Chise and Elias' and their initial story which honestly I can't remember now.

Hopefully this all ties back in somehow to Chise.

#25in2025

I liked the interaction between Chise and Alice since they got to the college and to see a known face again was a good thing considering that there are so many new characters and not all of them are properly introduced so trying to figure out who's who is becoming a mission but to see Alice again and have her confide in Chise about something as personal as her history shows how much Alice has come to rely and trust in her.

#25in2025

This volume picks up from the last one as we were introduced to a new set and more characters.
The beginning was a bit of a rough start for me with the setup of being introduced to yet another character but the second half got my interest as the story goes back to the alchemy college and Chise with her new friends so I'm definitely going to pick up the next volume.

#25in2025 #pantone2025 @Lauredhel

The author tries to tackle more than 400 years worth of history in about 300 pages, so some of a lot of details are left as a brief sentence or passage but for what is here, I can see that a lot of work and care went into this but a larger piece of me was really interested in learning about about the history of the different indigenous tribes and the meso American groups prior to European colonization a lot more but all in all a good read.

What a volume!!!
Action packed way to start this one, picking up right after the last one with the fight between Hyo, Heisuke and Kumanomi.
That entire moment was amazing and I'm still a bit in a daze about that fight's outcome.

The volume moves on to the others as Sakamoto and gang confront Slur at the abandoned warehouse or it is Slur? Lots more twists and turns at the end of this one so I need to put a hold at the library for the next volume.

Considering how long I had this book on my digital shelf, I feel it was ok.
Admitting it's ok is a hard thing to say considering how the book starts which has a very emotional and hard scene to read which can be triggering to some as it involves a tragic car accident but it feels like the rest of the book is at odds and anticlimactic not to mention has more flashbacks then present tense moments so it can feel abrupt at different times.

It's been some time since I read an anthology and this was on my TBR.
The premise to use a single trope, in this case of the older brother and heir in a pickle because their wives can no longer have kids and they're left with daughters so they turn to their younger brothers to force them to marry and beget children ASAP, was interesting because same basic trope and each author had a different way of making it happen and I was here for that!

I absolutely am in love with Splashmaster, I know.. I know, he's the villain for this one but he's also so freaking adorbs but then again there's also the Nightmare Knight, who got me intrigued due to his one action so I came away liking the villains in this book a lot more than any of the other characters. Didn't like the new character but we'll see ..

Personally I want to see more of the Nightmare Knight 😂

I had placed a hold for this at the end of last year on a whim and it didn't disappoint which is a nice change compared to some other newer reads I've read of late.

I enjoyed the premise of a romance writer suffering writer's block while a romantic upcoming actor who's dealing with another breakup under the public eye. He helps her writer's block by reigniting romance for her and she in turn will ruin romance for him, one trope at a time.

Overall this was very cute and a lighthearted read that I just enjoyed. It only took so long because I had to return it to the library and it was months before I could get a copy to borrow 😂
The three stories interconnect nicely by either character relationships or the setting as all stories are in and around an airport setting. I think of the three stories, 'The Missed Connection' was my all time favorite.

I've had this on my TBR for a really long time so I'm glad to finally have read it!
I always liked the movie but felt like there was something missing from it and so I was hoping that the book would give me something more but oddly enough the book read even choppier, if you can believe it.

Dialogue felt stilted at different moments, scenes were awkward in a way that weren't in the film but all in all a solid read that reminded me of why I love it

I absolutely enjoyed this!
I'm so much older than the inspired ages for this but it was a fun read especially as this book veers away from the usual hero arc and makes light of other fantasy tropes in a way that lets a younger sister take the lead and be a hero as her older brother just wants to go to magic school.
And with that cliffhanger, I need to know what happens to our brother and sister team now!

I knew this was Reylo coded early on.
Everything to me was reading as them just in a modern AU setting and I couldn't not stop seeing them or the rest of the book cast as various Star Wars characters just to find out that this did indeed did start off as SW fanfiction, so I feel validated 😄😂

I definitely enjoyed the side characters, how they all managed to stay friends with Ari is questionable to me because of how she read on page.
#pantone2025

Bought this from a social teaser and I'm not going to lie based off of it, I was really excited to read it.

At 100 pages, the book was too short for all the tropes it tried to fit in and make work, creating a rushed and plot whole filled read. There's potential for so much more here and I'm a bit saddened by the idea of the potential because it's pretty much right there.
All in all, I was looking for what the teaser teased me with 😔

FANGS, Vol.3 by Billy Balibally

I like that this volume explained some questions I had from the other two but something about the pacing of it, makes me think there could be more but not so centered around En and Ichii?, but I could be wrong.

The build up of Megi from the last volume to this one was interesting but it also feels flat. So I'm hoping for more on his character but we'll see; the volume ended with an open ending.

I didn't expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, much less have it take me back to High School and give me all sorts of emotions like this did.

The overall story was fun! It was so much fun to read about a high school prom, the ups and downs of that age, the changes in relationships, the growing apart and yet forming new relationships, the borderline of being a kid and yet learning to grow still.

@Lauredhel #pantone2025
#25in2025

I just started reading this one and Idk but I'm getting Reylo vibes. Has anyone else who read this got that vibe?

I really enjoyed this volume.
Getting the rest of Haratake's backstory and seeing the origin of the character as they are today was so good. Truly a great way to tell and drive the story as we circle back to present day and our down and out samurai coming to terms with the fact that greater things are at risk while showcasing his endeavouring love to his wife.

I can't wait to see where the next volume goes from here!

This was absolutely fun!
It was pretty much what I was hoping for as I do love it when villains have their moments and this book gave me so many great villainous moments.

Normally I'm not into the isekai genre in general so I probably could have done without it but everything else .... Was just so much fun- the wit, satire, despair, snark, hope, and characterizations were what I didn't know I was looking for till I started reading it.

I know very little about RuPaul's personal life so this was a nice intro to the person from their early start as a good portion of the book is about their childhood, family home, early start in show business, drag, as well as a general gloss-over of their current.

The book started out strong but it does feel, maybe part of the gloss-over for me, that it loses steam a bit halfway into the book but then again, they have a 20+ years to try to cover.

Idk how to describe this one.
It's an odd premise of a cook running a food truck in the middle of nowhere, meets a naked girl in a sleeping bag in the middle of the road, who turns out is wanted by an armed militia. It's too early for an actual storyline in this volume but I'm sure something is going to happen just based on how this volume ended.

I don't think I'm going to continue the rest of this series since I'm not in like with it.

I've had this on my TBR for so long I had almost given up hope that I would get to read it, but the library had a copy!!!!

I liked the range of folk tales from around the world, although a lot are from Great Britain, overall it was a good mix of different countries which is nice to read but I only ended up enjoying a handful of tales.

@Lauredhel #pantone2025
#popsugarreadingchallenge #25in2025

Omg what an illegal cliffhanger!!!!!
Idk when the next volume is happening but I am psyched for it.

Liu has a great way of writing tension and that fact that it's been every volume highlighting different arcs but all tying together is intensive but I am here for it.

@Lauredhel #pantone2025
#25in2025 #fromthetbr

Wow..... This book was heavily detailed, rich and colorful like the paintings Kahlo was known for.

Hours worth of journal entries from herself as well Diego, letters written by her and to her, articles, and interviews highlight Kahlo and show her as this majestic, larger than life, exotic and fiery individual who captivated so many.

@Lauredhel #pantone2025 #hibiscus
#popsugarreadingchallenge #25in2025

This was a fun volume highlighting Yor, as she takes on a bodyguard role from the last volume.

It was great to see Yor in action, as it's been a while so I enjoyed that but that didn't happen till later in the volume as more than half of this felt like filler as it gave details of the backstory, a bit of Twilight and Anya, and even Yor's boss got a highlight, which wow because dude still has it.

I am enjoying that this volume is picking up from the last one, amidst a flashback story and in mid action as Young Sakamoto and Co. are in mid mission.

I'm surprised by the reveal, even though I knew it would come, beca se I didn't think Kindaka's involvement with the Order was quite this way and while I don't want to spoil it, the specifics of it is what surprised me.