Category: book reviews

Blog Tour: The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams by Victoria Williamson

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Hello, reader!

It’s been a minute, but today I have a blog tour stop to share with y’all! I’m happy to be able to participate in another tour hosted by The Write Reads and I’m extra excited because this is for a new middle grade fantasy. The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams by Victoria Williamson was a fun, quick read that I think younger readers would adore.

But, before I get to my review, I have people to thank. First, thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads and all of the crew for giving me a spot on this tour! Second, thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC of the book so that I could participate in this tour. It is, as always, appreciated!

Now, let’s get the post!

  • Title: The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams
  • Author: Victoria Williamson
  • Publisher: Tiny Tree
  • Publication date: May 11th, 2023
  • Length: 214 pages
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Age group: Middle Grade

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In a strange little village called Witchetty Hollow, eleven-year-old Florizel is the first to run into the curious visitors who’ve come to open a brand new Daydream Delicatessen and sack-baby factory.

At first, it seems the daydream confection and cheap sack children are the best things that could have happened to the poor folk of the Hollow – after all, who has the money to rent their child from Storkhouse Services these days? But after a few weeks, Florizel starts to notice something odd happening to the adults of the town. First, they seem dreamy, then they lose all interest in their jobs and families. Soon they’re trading all their worldly goods in the newly-opened Pawnshop for money to buy daydreams. With no money for rent payments, the children of Witchetty Hollow are being reclaimed by Storkhouse Services at an alarming rate. Florizel needs to act.

A magical tale of intrigue and adventure from award-winning children’s author Victoria Williamson

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ARC Review: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

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Title: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

Author: Amélie Wen Zhao

Publisher: Delacorte Press/Harper Voyager

Genre: Fantasy

Age Group: Young Adult

Content/Trigger Warnings: For a list of potential content and trigger warnings, check out this book’s page on BookTriggerWarnings.com

Rating: ★★★★★

Book Links: 
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Goodreads Synopsis

Once, Lan had a different name. Now, she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her. She spends her days scavenging for remnants of the past. For anything that might help her understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother, in her last act before she died.

No one can see the mysterious mark – until the night Zen appears at the teahouse and saves her life.

Zen is a practitioner, one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom, whose abilities were rumoured to be drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Magic to be hidden at all costs.

Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.

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Blog Tour: If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude

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Hello, reader!

Today on the blog, I’m bringing you a blog tour for a YA debut I truly enjoyed! If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude is an incredible speculative story that had me on an emotional rollercoaster. I’m so excited to join The Write Reads in shouting its praises!

But, before I get to my review, I have people to thank. First, thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads and all of the crew for giving me a spot on this tour! Second, thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC of the book so that I could participate in this tour. It is, as always, appreciated!

Now, let’s get the post!

  • Title: If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come
  • Author: Jen St. Jude
  • Publication date: May 9th, 2023
  • Length: 416 pages
  • Genre: LGBTQIA+/Contemporary Romance/Science Fiction
  • Age group: Young Adult
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: Suicidal ideation (on page, frequent), grief, violence, sexual harassment, homophobia, blood

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We Are Okay meets They Both Die at the End in this YA debut about queer first love and mental health at the end of the world-and the importance of saving yourself, no matter what tomorrow may hold.

Avery Byrne has secrets. She’s queer; she’s in love with her best friend, Cass; and she’s suffering from undiagnosed clinical depression. But on the morning Avery plans to jump into the river near her college campus, the world discovers there are only nine days left to live: an asteroid is headed for Earth, and no one can stop it.

Trying to spare her family and Cass additional pain, Avery does her best to make it through just nine more days. As time runs out and secrets slowly come to light, Avery would do anything to save the ones she loves. But most importantly, she learns to save herself. Speak her truth. Seek the support she needs. Find hope again in the tomorrows she has left.

If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come is a celebration of queer love, a gripping speculative narrative, and an urgent, conversation-starting book about depression, mental health, and shame.

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BBNYA 2022 Finalist Tour: Inheriting Her Ghosts by S.H. Cooper

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Hello, reader!

I’m bringing you another blog tour post for one of the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award finalists from 2022! Today, I’ll be reviewing my personal favorite read of the entire competition last year and our fourth place finisher! Inheriting Her Ghosts by S.H. Cooper is a short, horror novella that features perhaps one of my favorite heroines I’ve read in awhile. Doesn’t hurt that she has two awesome dog companions, as well!

But, before I go on, let me tell you more about this award. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.  If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

And, now, let’s talk about this book!

  • Title: Inheriting Her Ghosts
  • Author: S.H. Cooper
  • Publisher: Sleepless Sanctuary Publishing
  • Publication date: July 9th, 2021
  • Length: 120 pages
  • Genre: Horror
  • Age group: Adult
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: Death, murder, violence

Book Links

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Inheritance often comes with strings attached, but rarely are they as tangled as those hanging over High Hearth.

When Eudora Fellowes learns she’s the sole heir of her estranged great-aunt’s seaside manor, she believes it will be the peaceful escape she’s longed for. What awaits, however, is a dark legacy shrouded in half a century of secrets, and it doesn’t take long before Eudora realizes she’s not the only one to call High Hearth home.

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Blog Tour: DeadEndia Vol I and II by Hamish Steele

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Hello, reader!

I have another TBR & Beyond Tours post to share with you today! Today, I’ll be talking about the graphic novel series that became a Netflix show: DeadEndia by Hamish Steele! This fantasy horror graphic novel series is a fun ride, with a diverse cast and a found family element that was *chef’s kiss*

Before I jump into my review, though, I want to say thank you. Thank you to the people at TBR & Beyond Tours for choosing me to take part in this tour. Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of both volume one and two of this series. And thank you to all my readers for supporting my little blog! Also, if you’d like to support the other incredible bloggers and bookstagrammers participating, make sure to check out the tour schedule by clicking here.

Alright, now let me tell you more about these books!

  • Title: DeadEndia: The Watcher’s Test
  • Author: Hamish Steele
  • Publisher: Union Square & Co
  • Publication date: May 2nd, 2023
  • Genre: Fantasy Graphic Novel
  • Age group: Young Adult
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: For a list of potential content and trigger warnings, check out this book’s page on BookTriggerWarnings.com

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  • Title: DeadEndia: The Broken Halo
  • Author: Hamish Steele
  • Publisher: Union Square & Co
  • Publication date: May 2nd, 2023
  • Genre: Fantasy Graphic Novel
  • Age group: Young Adult
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: Death, torture, violence

Book Links

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The Watcher’s Test:

Barney and his best friend Norma are just trying to get by and keep their jobs, but working at the Dead End theme park also means battling demonic forces, time traveling wizards, and scariest of all–their love lives!

Follow the lives of this diverse group of employees of a haunted house, which may or may not also serve as a portal to hell, in this hilarious and moving graphic novel, complete with talking pugs, vengeful ghosts and LBGTQIA love!

The Broken Halo:

In the second installment of this quirky, heartfelt, LGBTQ adventure comic, war is brewing across the thirteen planes and as always, haunted house attraction and portal to hell Dead End is right at the center of it.

It’s been weeks since Dead End was destroyed and as it reopens as a hotel, resident tour guide turned hotel manager Norma is determined to leave the ghosts of the past where they belong. But with her friendship with Barney up in the air and angels and demons using the hotel as their literal wrestling ring, Norma soon finds that unwanted ghosts can appear at any moment, especially when they’re your own.

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BBNYA 2022 Finalist Tour: The Reaper’s Quota by Sarah McKnight

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Hello, reader!

Today, I have another blog tour for one of the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) 2022 finalists! I’m sharing my thoughts on one of the books I was privileged to read as a panelist last year. The Reaper’s Quota by Sarah McKnight is a “weird little book” (direct quote from my notes, haha) that I quite enjoyed!

But, before I go on, let me tell you more about this award. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.  If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

And, now, let me tell you more about this book!

  • Title: The Reaper’s Quota
  • Author: Sarah McKnight
  • Publisher: Self-published
  • Publication date: November 10th, 2020
  • Length: 190 pages
  • Genre: Dark Humor/Satire
  • Age group: Adult
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: Slightly graphic to moderately graphic descriptions of death

Book Links

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Meet Grim Reaper #2497. Behind on his work, he must complete his quota of thirty Random Deaths or face termination in the worst way. Faced with an insurmountable task and very little time to complete it, Reaper #2497 struggles to hang on to the one thing he’s not supposed to have – his humanity.

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ARC Review: Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah

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Title: Where Darkness Blooms

Author: Andrea Hannah

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Genre: Horror/Supernatural Thriller

Age Group: Young Adult

Content/Trigger Warnings: Sexual assault (implied, later revealed), stabbing, death, sex (implied), gaslighting, violence, blood, underage drinking

Rating: ★★★

Book Links: 
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Goodreads Synopsis

Andrea Hannah’s Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunflowers whisper secrets and the land hungers for blood.

The town of Bishop is known for exactly two things: recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial.

With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney’s twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret too: the summer fling she had with Delilah’s boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.

Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don’t know is that Bishop was founded on blood—and now it craves theirs.

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Blog Tour: Zora Books Her Happy Ever After by Taj McCoy

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Hello, reader!

Today, it’s my stop on the tour for Zora Books Her Happy Ever After by Taj McCoy hosted by Hear Our Voices Tours! This bookish romance had me entranced from page one and I can’t wait until it is out in the world so more people get to enjoy it.

Before I get to my review, though, I have people to thank. First, a big thank you to the brains behind Hear Our Voices who gave me a spot on this tour. Second, thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free ARC so that I could read and participate. It is, as always, very much appreciated!

Also, if you’d like to check out any of the other fabulous posts done by the incredible bloggers and bookstagrammers and BookTubers on this tour, you can check out the schedule here.

Now, let’s get to my post!

  • Title: Zora Books Her Happy Ever After
  • Author: Taj McCoy
  • Publication date: April 25th, 2023
  • Publisher: MIRA Books
  • Length: 336 pages
  • Genre: Romance
  • Age group: Adult

Book Links

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Zora has committed every inch of her life to establishing her thriving DC bookstore, making it into a pillar of the community, and she just hasn’t had time for romance. But when a mystery author she’s been crushing on for years agrees to have an event at her store, she starts to rethink her priorities. Lawrence is every bit as charming as she imagined, even if his understanding of his own books seems just a bit shallow. When he asks her out after his reading, she’s almost elated enough to forget about the grumpy guy who sat next to her making snide comments all evening. Apparently the grouch is Lawrence’s best friend, Reid, but she can’t imagine what kind of friendship that must be. They couldn’t be more different.

But as she starts seeing Lawrence, and spending more and more time with Reid, Zora finds first impressions can be deceiving. Reid is smart and thoughtful—he’s also interested. After years of avoiding dating, she suddenly has two handsome men competing for her affection. But even as she struggles to choose between them, she can’t shake the feeling that they’re both hiding something—a mystery she’s determined to solve before she can find her HEA.

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Blog Tour: Dark Eyes, White Lies by M.R. Noble

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Hello, reader!

It’s time for a blog tour! Today, I’m participating in the tour hosted by The Write Reads for the sequel to a book I read (and enjoyed!) through a different tour hosted by the same company in 2021. Dark Eyes, White Lies by M.R. Noble picks up right where the first book leaves us and it’s even more of an intense, wild ride!

But, before I get to my review, I have people to thank. First, thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads and all of the crew for giving me a spot on this tour! Second, thank you to the author for providing me with a free e-copy of the book so that I could participate in this tour. It is, as always, appreciated!

Now, let’s get the post!

  • Title: Dark Eyes, White Lies
  • Author: M.R. Noble
  • Publication date: March 29th, 2023
  • Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
  • Age group: Adult
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: Violence, torture, blood, death, sexual assault (implied), drug use, gore

Book Links

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Blackmailed into espionage, Karo must lie to one man while she fights her cravings for another. As spy partners, Karo is forced to work with Andre, the vampire she swore to never trust again. The accidental vampiric bond they have threatens to bend her into submission. But is her will actually weak, or does she want an excuse to give in?

Roman’s patience teeters on Karo’s deception. Bitter, desperate, and vengeful, Karo dutifully completes her missions while withholding data from her uncle Loukin’s operation. She swore to get out from under his thumb, even if she has to break a few hands. Each assignment brings her closer to uncovering his goal, and using it against him, but she also draws closer to new foes. And they all want the same thing—Karo’s secrets.

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BBNYA 2022 Finalist Tour: Bloodlaced by Courtney Maguire

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Hello, reader!

It’s time for another blog tour for one of the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) 2022 finalists! Today, I get to share my thoughts on a book that a lot of panelists were buzzing about last year. Bloodlaced by Courtney Maguire is a paranormal fantasy that has some dark themes and fantastic writing. I can see why the book made it all the way to the finals!

But, before I go on, let me tell you more about this award. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.  If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

And, now, let me tell you more about this book!

  • Title: Bloodlaced
  • Author: Courtney Maguire
  • Publisher: City Owl Press
  • Publication date: September 29th, 2020
  • Genre: Paranormal
  • Age group: Adult
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: Physical abuse, sexual abuse (off-page), self-harm, blood, graphic violence

Book Links

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Goodreads

Kanjin hardly view their servants as human. Even less so when they are different.

Asagi is different. Both a man and a woman.

In the wake of his failure to protect a boy they saw as a son from their abusive master, Asagi is sold into the house of a young nobleman, Mahiro, who is the opposite of everything Asagi has ever known—gentle, kind, and generous.

Mahiro bonds with Asagi and their friendship blooms into a deep and profound love. But when Asagi is poisoned out of jealousy, Mahiro reveals himself to be youkai, a demon who feeds on blood, and he has no choice but to turn Asagi to save their life.

Asagi awakes reborn, strong, and eternally youthful. But the price for Asagi’s new life is high.

The blood of the innocent.

Just as Asagi’s trust in Mahiro falters, the boy they failed to protect, now a man, reappears.

New master, same threat.

With both a literal and proverbial monster at the door, Asagi must decide what it means to be human to protect what they loves most.

If you like Bella Forrest, P. C. Cast, AJ Tipton, or Anne Rice, you will love this beautiful dark paranormal fantasy romance.

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