Month: November 2021

Blog Tour: Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
blog tour · book reviews

Blog Tour: Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

kerrimcbooknerd7 Comments

Hello, reader!

Today is my stop on yet another book tour hosted by the wonderful people at TBR & Beyond Tours! Today’s featured book is Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen and it caught my interest as soon as I saw the cover. It’s a YA fantasy inspired by West African mythology and, y’all, there are Black mermaids. How could I not want to read it?

Before we get to my post, I want to thank the wonderful team at TBR & Beyond Tours for allowing me a spot on this tour. Don’t forget that there are other incredible bloggers and bookstagrammers participating along the way! You can check out the full schedule HERE. I also want to thank the publisher, Random House Books, and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my participation with this tour and an honest review. It is, as always, much appreciated!

Alright, now let’s get into the post!

Book Details

  • Title: Skin of the Sea
  • Author: Natasha Bowen
  • Publication date: November 2nd, 2021
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Age group: Young Adult
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: Violence, enslavement, death, suicide, blood

Book Links

Bookshop::TBD::Indigo::B&N::Amazon::
Goodreads

Synopsis

“An unforgettable fantasy debut inspired by West African mythology, this is Children of Blood and Bone meets The Little Mermaid, in which a mermaid takes on the gods themselves.

A way to survive.
A way to serve.
A way to save.

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata–a mermaid–collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.

But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi does the unthinkable–she saves his life, going against an ancient decree. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy it.

To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail. . . . Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she doesn’t, then she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.”

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WWW Wednesday: Nov 3, 2021
www wednesday

WWW Wednesday: Nov 3, 2021

kerrimcbooknerd4 Comments

It’s time for another WWW Wednesday! This is a bookish meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where bloggers answer the 3 Ws:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What did you recently finish reading?
  3. What do you think you’ll read next?

If you’d like to learn more about any of these books, click on the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page.

Current Reads

  • Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen: Every time I see the cover of this book, I fall in love all over again. It’s so gorgeous! I’m reading this Black mermaid tale for a book tour and, I have to say, I’m having a great time. It’s steeped in West African mythology and I love the lush, vibrant world that the author has created. You can expect to see my full review soon.
  • Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark: I’ve only just started this book, but I am loving it so far! I think the concept is fascinating and I’m hoping there will be a lot of demon-slaying and a lot of white supremacist ass-kicking. I am curious to see how much can be packed into this short novella, as well. Hopefully, this small book will pack a large punch!
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The Fantasy Tropes Book Tag
book tag

The Fantasy Tropes Book Tag

kerrimcbooknerd5 Comments

Hello, reader!

It’s Tuesday, which is the perfect day for a tag, yeah? This one is right up my alley because it’s the Fantasy Tropes Book Tag! Fantasy is my favorite genre, it’s what I gravitate towards the most, so you know I’m excited to do a tag focused around the inherent tropes.

We all know how long it takes me to do tags. This time, it took so long I got tagged twice 😅😂 So I want to thank two of my favorite bloggers, Danni @ _ForBooksSake and Erika @ And On She Reads, for tagging me! They both have incredible blogs that cover books of all genres and you should definitely check them out 💖

Alright, let’s jump in!

The Rules:

  • Mention the creator ( one’s peculiar )
  • Answer the questions
  • Tag as many people as you like
  • HAVE FUN!

The Prompts:

1 – The Lost Princess – A book/series you lost interest in halfway through.

When I first started the Anita Blake series, I was into them. Like, really into them. I tore through the first few books and was hungry for more. And then they just kept coming. And the actually story line started getting a little… dull. Which is hard to do when your main character is a vampire hunter and there’s lots of paranormal sexy times going on! I think I stopped at book 10 and I have no interest in going back.

2 – The Knight in Shining Armor – A hyped book/series you were swept up by.

The hype around The House in the Cerulean Sea was real! I had been hearing about it everywhere and it certainly piqued my interest. But, as happens sometimes with hyped books, I kept putting off reading it because I was nervous the hype built my expectations way too high. Funnily enough, not only did this book meet my expectations, it blew them out of the water!

3 – The Wise Old Wizard – An author who amazes you with his/her writing.

Erin Morgenstern. Hands down. When I read The Night Circus, I knew I would read absolutely anything she wrote. That’s usually a decision I reserve until I’ve read at least two things by an author! My faith was solidified when I read The Starless Sea which I loved as much if not more than her first book. Her writing is just top tier.

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#5OnMyTBR – R.I.P.
5 on my tbr

#5OnMyTBR – R.I.P.

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#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook where you chose five books from your to-be-read pile that fit that week’s theme. If you’d like more info, head over to the announcement post!

Hello, reader!

Happy November! We made it through another month of 2021 and we’re in the home-stretch. Which is honestly mind-boggling to me. How are we this close to 2022 already?! I feel like 2021 has zoomed by to make up for the slog that was 2020. But I’m getting off topic, aren’t I? We’re here for another 5 On My TBR post! The theme this week had me kind of mystified, I must say. It’s simply R.I.P.

There are a lot of ways I could interpret this, but I decided to be on the nose. I’m going to choose five books by authors who have passed away for this week’s post! Morbid? Yes. But there are a lot of books I really want to read that fit the category. So, without further ado, let’s jump in!

#1. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Okay, this one is kind of cheating as I have already read this book. That being said, I want to re-read it and all the other ones I read before I kind of fell out of love with the Wheel of Time series. I’ve always regretted not sticking with it until the end of the series and, now that the Prime series will be out soon, I’m kicking myself even more! So I want to get back into these books and hopefully finish this time.

#2. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

I’m a little embarrassed that I still haven’t read anything written by Octavia Butler. Black sci-fi written by a Black woman? Say less! She has always been on my radar (how could she not be?) but I’ve just never got around to picking up on of her books. This is definitely the one that captures my interest the most. Seems like a good place to start when it comes to her work, as well! I’m hoping to get to this sooner rather than later.

Continue reading “#5OnMyTBR – R.I.P.” →