Tag Archives: bethlylou reads

Review: A Wilderness of Stars by Shea Ernshaw

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I didn’t know much about this book when I started it. I got it as a part of a mystery bag I bought last year at NYCC. That’s what I love about getting books like this because they can surprise you. I am not sure I would have picked it up on my own. Vega is the Astronomer. Like her mother before her and her mother before her, she is the only one who can read the stars. The world has been consumed with sickness and it is said that the Astronomer will read the stars and save them. The action begins when Vega sees two stars in the sky that were not there before. This is the sign. She must find the Architect to take her to the see. A couple of issues. She doesn’t know how the Architect is and she has also never left her home in the valley. She runs into Cricket and then Noah, who help her out but there is a group of men, who will do anything to find her. The Theorist, basically a gang but run by a man who obsessive in finding the Astronomer because he more then anything wants to save himself. Vega, who has been sheltered her own life, is very brave. She doesn’t hesitate when she sees the stars even though her mother just died because she knows what’s at stake. Despite all the advisory she faces, she never wavers from her mission and keeps going. The twist at the end, I’ll admit, I did not see coming and the ending does leave it open for a sequel. The part of me that wants a happy ending hopes there will be but I also do like an open-ended ending. Life keeps going no matter what happens. Even in fiction.

Review: The Righteous by Renee Ahdieh

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Poppy is on the case. Everyone should have a friend like her. When Celine goes missing, she will literally go through a looking glass to find her. Arjun just wants to save a friend. Picking up after the end of The Damned. The Court of Lions are reeling from the fight with the werewolves. Odette is barely hanging on to life and Celine and Bastien are in the among the Fae to escape the the French detective who came to take her back to Paris. Poppy knows something strange is going on. She witnesses Michael wolfing out but what she really cares about is Celine and finding her before she gets married. Following Arjun, she crosses over to another world and to save her, Arjun pretends they are engaged. I do love a fake engagement trope. I got the vibes these two had chemistry and were stoked to read their adventures. I was not disappointed. I enjoyed their witty banter back and forth. Poppy may seem like your typically British aristocrat but she has real grit. Just like everyone, she has a secret and will do anything to save her family. Which makes sense since she will do almost anything to save her friend. It shouldn’t surprise you that they fall in love. Things don’t turn out the way they hoped and now peace between the fae courts is broken. Celine is about to enter in her villain era and I’m here for it. I can’t wait to pick up the final book in the series because it’s going to be a wild ride.

The Review: The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent

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Vampires. ✅ Enemies to lovers ✅ Journey through dangerous lands ✅ Yep, this checked off a lot of my boxes. This book takes place maybe a year after the last Crowns of Nyaxia book. It follows Mische, who left the Night Court because she wants to find herself but also she knows she killed the Prince of the Shadowborn and she doesn’t want the consequences coming for her friends. Of course, we find her that she has been caught by the Shadowborn and is about to be executed until the bastard son, Asar, of the King shows up and says I need her to complete my task from the Goddess Nyaxia. In Mische’s human life she was a priestess to the Sun God. Her God abandoned her when she was turned into a vampire but now shows up and gives her the task of sabotaging Asar’s mission. So of course, they go on a long journey between the world of living and the dead to collect what they need for their task and of course they fall in love as they go. In typical fashion, Asar’s reputation is he is ruthless, which you know right away that he isn’t going to be that. I like the banter between the two of them. They have good chemistry. The ending did leave a pretty nice cliffhanger. Not to spoil anything but things did not go as planned. Thank goodness, the next book in the series is already out so I will be reading it soon.

Quick Review: The Damned by Renee Ahdieh

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I will admit. I am a sucker for a moody vampire. Bastien is the moodiest. Sure I can understand why he is. Afterall, he didn’t choose to be turned. He lost his life, his humanity and the girl he loved. As for Celine. She is recovering from the injuries from the end of the last book. She is struggling with her memory loss. To help her out is Michael, who she is dating, kind of and her friend Poppy. The narrative plays out in multiple POV’s beyond Celine and Bastien. The world has grown. It’s not just vampires but werewolves and the Fey. The story still revolves around Celine and Bastien but it also is no longer just their story. It’s a story of found family and secrets. It’s about overcoming trauma. Really more about dealing with trauma because there are definitely a few that never did deal with it and that is why we are where we are now. I am so glad that Kate recommend this series because I am very much enjoying it. I can’t wait for the next book to become available at my library so I can read what happens next. It sounds like it’s going to be a Poppy centered book and I’m stoked about that. She is the one character that didn’t get a POV chapter and the one I am most interested in.

Review: The Blood Phoenix by Amber Chen

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I am not sure how I feel about this book and this series. It’s not that I didn’t like it because I did. I wouldn’t have read the sequel if I had not but there is something about it that…I’m not sure how to explain. I thought maybe of Jade and Dragons it was the narrator of the audiobook that took me out of some moments but I still had trouble connecting with this one as well. So I guess it is the writing. I don’t know. The Book Phoenix takes place about two years after the end of Of Jade and Dragons. Ying is now living in a new village and engaged to a son of Chieftain and Ye-Yang is still the Head Commander. I am still unsettled about how things ended between the two at the end of the last book. With Ye-Yang promising he would come back for her because he doesn’t dream of things, he always gets what he wants. Can we say red flag? In the last book, there were mentions of pirates roaming the sees and the threat to the Nine Isles but now those threats are much more dangerous. They are attacking shipments and have decimated the Antarian fleet. The country has taken a lot of refugees from the Empire, putting more restrain on their resources. Something has to be done. Ying may have walked a way from the Engineer’s Guild but she still continues to create. She has developed the “Octopus” a submarine of sorts. She built it as a means to leave the country but it can be helpful against the pirates. Things change when the pirates, specifically the most feared ship the Blood Phoenix attacks her new home and kills her fiancée. Ye-Yang comes to her for help. He has been keeping tabs on her and knows that she has created something that could turn the tide. In the meantime, he is still engaged to Ying’s younger sister, Nian. The wedding keeps getting delayed but that can only last so long. She and Ye-Yang have yet to connect and she desperately wants to. She has also developed a friendship with Ye-Kan, Ye-Yang’s other brother. The story goes back and forth between the two sisters POV as we get both sides of the conflict. We also get to see how smart both of them are. Ying, has mind to create, while Nian has a mind for strategy. In a lot of ways, they are both are where they are supposed to be. As the story unfolds and we learn more about the complicated history of the clans and the politics on the Nine Isles, it is clear that not everything is black and white. I did appreciate the little bit of a cliffhanger of an ending. I don’t know if there is going to be a third book but if there isn’t. I like of leaving it open ended and up for interpretation. What’s the verdict. Not a bad a series. I liked the story but maybe the not so much the execution.