Heather Lyons has done it again in a unique and beautifully written story surrounding our beloved literary characters. The Hidden Library is the second book in the series The Collector's Society and must be read after reading the first book. This book picks up after the events at the end of the first book, with Finn running The Society. He and Alice are working to get answers out of their prisoners who had been tormenting The Society in the previous book.
Alice and Finn are on the hunt for the elusive big bad who has been destroying timelines and ending countless lives, but the further they get, the more questions they have. Finn and Alice also face old demons, enemies and threats along the way, hindering their search greatly.
This book began a little bit slow for me, but that's my fault because I waited so long to read this, I forgot some of the details. But it picked up very quickly before turning into an action packed novel with lots of plot twists and surprises. I love when the characters would venture into different timelines; I was enraptured by Finn's hometown and riveted by the trip back into Wonderland. The author has such a vivid imagination, and reading this book was like stepping into real and new worlds.
I have to say I was kept guessing while reading this book, I never knew where it was going to go next. The plot is so beyond intricate with character dynamics, settings, and more, it's a story that keeps you on your toes. I cannot wait to see what comes with the next book as this one was even better than the first.
My one teeny tiny little bit that wasn't perfect: my heart bleeds for the White King. I still feel his connection for Alice is incredibly strong. I'm hoping he gets a love interest soon because I just feel so damn for the bad guy that I am ready to be on his team (or keep him for myself. I may do that instead). Otherwise, I loved this book!
“True love does not have limits or restrictions. True love allows a person to love deeply and unconditionally. True love does not ask you to let go of life. True love encourages you to live.”
Heather Lyons has done it again in a unique and beautifully written story surrounding our beloved literary characters. The Hidden Library is the second book in the series The Collector's Society and must be read after reading the first book. This book picks up after the events at the end of the first book, with Finn running The Society. He and Alice are working to get answers out of their prisoners who had been tormenting The Society in the previous book.
Alice and Finn are on the hunt for the elusive big bad who has been destroying timelines and ending countless lives, but the further they get, the more questions they have. Finn and Alice also face old demons, enemies and threats along the way, hindering their search greatly.
This book began a little bit slow for me, but that's my fault because I waited so long to read this, I forgot some of the details. But it picked up very quickly before turning into an action packed novel with lots of plot twists and surprises. I love when the characters would venture into different timelines; I was enraptured by Finn's hometown and riveted by the trip back into Wonderland. The author has such a vivid imagination, and reading this book was like stepping into real and new worlds.
I have to say I was kept guessing while reading this book, I never knew where it was going to go next. The plot is so beyond intricate with character dynamics, settings, and more, it's a story that keeps you on your toes. I cannot wait to see what comes with the next book as this one was even better than the first.
My one teeny tiny little bit that wasn't perfect: my heart bleeds for the White King. I still feel his connection for Alice is incredibly strong. I'm hoping he gets a love interest soon because I just feel so damn for the bad guy that I am ready to be on his team (or keep him for myself. I may do that instead). Otherwise, I loved this book!
“True love does not have limits or restrictions. True love allows a person to love deeply and unconditionally. True love does not ask you to let go of life. True love encourages you to live.”
The second book in the Emily Wilde series, Map of the Otherlands follows Emily and Wendall with new acquiantences as they escape faery assassins sent The second book in the Emily Wilde series, Map of the Otherlands follows Emily and Wendall with new acquiantences as they escape faery assassins sent by Wendell's stepmother. Ending up in the Austrian Alps, Emily hopes to find a door to the faery realm and to help save Wendell.
I really like this series a lot, Emily and Wendell are such wonderful characters. I love that the series is from Emily's perspective, it's so unique and I love her way of seeing the world. I love all the adventures she goes on and all of the creatures she meets along the way. (view spoiler)[ I was also so glad we got to see Poe again, he's my favorite! (hide spoiler)] It's honestly just a heartwarming and fun fae series, which is so refreshing with all of the darker fae stories out right now. It's a perfect escape from reality....more
Selene is a young witch with a rare type of magic that when she uses it, her memories disappear. 2.5 stars
Alright... this one missed the mark a bit.
Selene is a young witch with a rare type of magic that when she uses it, her memories disappear. Selene wants to join a local coven but her application will only be approved if she does a quest and gains a familiar. Selene hops on a plane that crashes over the Amazon where she accidentally frees a supernatural being that wants her dead.
I am a long time fan of Laura Thalassa and I normally love her books. But this one was simply... to much. The suspense for disbelief at the beginning of the book was stretched very thin. But then, her romantic interest is horrible to her... for the entire book! He literally never became nice or redeemable. I will say, Thalassa has her usual compelling writing style and I was able to read this book quickly and didn't quit. But the cliffhanger ending combined with everything else, I'm not gonna waste my time of the rest of this series....more
Cambridge profesor Emily Wilde travels to the small village of Hrafnsvik so she can study and write the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. AtCambridge profesor Emily Wilde travels to the small village of Hrafnsvik so she can study and write the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. At first she is an outcast among the locals, her academic rival Wendell Bambleby turns up and everything begins to change.
A colleague of mine recommended this book to me 9 months ago and I finally got to it! And I shouldn't have pushed this down the to be read list because it was wonderful! I loved all the interactions Emily had with the townspeople, the faeries and all of the lore that came along with it. I was perfectly content listening along and happily got lost in this world. Some of it is predictable, yes, but nevertheless still enjoyable. I checked out the second book immediately after finishing this one....more
It genuinely hurt me for a book with a cover this beautiful to be so bad. There's a good book in here somewhere!! But man this book was all over the pIt genuinely hurt me for a book with a cover this beautiful to be so bad. There's a good book in here somewhere!! But man this book was all over the place.
I was so looking forward to reading this book and was a little bit scared when I saw the average goodreads rating. Then after about 175 pages in, I totally understood. Everything in the beginning of the book with Lore and her working in the fae library was so wonderful, and then it's almost like the author had written a bunch of short stores about this character and then lumped them together to make a novel.
There was no character development, no world-buidling, and no coherent plot. And from there, we really don't get a good story. I really wish the editors had done a better job on this book because as I said before, there's a great book in here somewhere. But this was one of my biggest disappointments of 2024....more
This third book in the Regency Faerie Tales series focuses on Abigail Wilder who we met in book one. When young ladies begin mysteriously dyi 3 stars
This third book in the Regency Faerie Tales series focuses on Abigail Wilder who we met in book one. When young ladies begin mysteriously dying, Abigail takes it upon herself to investigate and along the way partners up with a mysterious woman named Mercy.
I first read Half a Soul and Ten Thousand Stitches about six months before reading this book so I had already forgotten a little bit but not so much that I couldn't understand this book. While this can be read as a standalone it's better if you read the first two books in the series. I did enjoy this book very much, but it lacked some of the magic of the other two books. Overall a very consistent and good historical fantasy series, I would absolutely read more by this author....more
After visiting Starling House one night, Opal finds herself drawn back to the sprawling spooky mansion. She ends up convincing the owner, A 3.5 stars
After visiting Starling House one night, Opal finds herself drawn back to the sprawling spooky mansion. She ends up convincing the owner, Arthur, into reluctantly giving her a cleaning job. But there's more to Starling House than meets the eye, and the house wants Opal...
I thought this was a great, atmospheric, spooky little book. It came to my attention when I saw the author Alix Harrow speak at the LA Festival of books and I put it on my tbr after her panel. This is one of those books where I really did like it, but it had a stronger start than finish. I thought Opal and her brother Jasper were such fun characters with a great relationship. Arthur was very intriguing. I just think some of the pacing and plot lacked a bit, hence 3.5 stars and not a higher rating....more
I will start this out by saying I am not the target audience for this book. I read it for a book club and I am actually very proud of mysel 2.5 stars
I will start this out by saying I am not the target audience for this book. I read it for a book club and I am actually very proud of myself for finishing this 19 hour audiobook. Not much to say other than I think I would have liked it more if there had been either a time jump or maybe 200+ pages had been shaved off of this one. It was overly long with subplots that lead nowhere sometimes. At times it reminded me a lot of Robert Jordan's work in that while at its heart I recognize its worth and that there are good parts, but we didn't really need all of that....more
When Mercy's brother Gary shows up at her house incoherent and affected by magic, Mercy and Adam head to Montana to see if they can break the 4 stars
When Mercy's brother Gary shows up at her house incoherent and affected by magic, Mercy and Adam head to Montana to see if they can break the spell. There they find themselves trapped in a resort in the midst of a snowstorm with other guests of the lodge. But not everything is as it seems and Mercy and Adam must find a magical artifact before even worse things begin to happen.
Let me start this with I am being very kind with my 4 star rating. Any other author or series I probably would have rated much lower, but I absolutely love this series and Mercy. But this book really was not up to the standards of the other books in this series. It was very disjointed with bad pacing and took me a very long time to read. But it's like pizza, even when it's bad, it's good. And I'll always welcome more of these characters and this world into my life. I just hope the next installment in the series is more plot forward than this book. This book felt a lot like a side quest.
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley. This did not affect my opinions, thoughts, rating, review. ...more
Book 2 in the Dark Rise series, you need to have read book 1 before reading this one. If you haven't, maybe avoid reading my review as it 3.75 stars
Book 2 in the Dark Rise series, you need to have read book 1 before reading this one. If you haven't, maybe avoid reading my review as it may contain spoilers for book 1. Also I won't do any summary, just thoughts on the book.
Dark Heir started out very slow for me, to the point that I almost quit at about 35%. There were a lot of new things thrown at us and lots of names to keep track of, but it got a lot better by the end of the book. I was sad we didn't get more of Violet in this book as she's my favorite character, but it made sense as other plot points needed to be pushed forward.
I am very excited for book 3 but nervous as there's no release date. I really want to know what happens mostly because (view spoiler)[ I was so frustrated with how quickly all of Will's friends turned on him once they found out he was the dark king. (hide spoiler)].
So if you get frustrated reading this push through because the end was great....more
It's really hard to describe the plot of this book in a way that would make sense, so I won't even try. CS Pacat is an author I've read before and didIt's really hard to describe the plot of this book in a way that would make sense, so I won't even try. CS Pacat is an author I've read before and didn't super love, but a book friend asked me to trust them that this was good so I did, and I really liked this book a lot. I listened to the audiobook which was excellently done.
There were lots of fantasy bits that I didn't quite compute, but am told book 2 helps make a lot of sense of book one so I'll read it soon. I really liked the worldbuilding and characters in this book a lot and would love to see more of both in the series. You can also tell when reading this book that the author put their heart and soul into writing it....more
The third book in a series, Disturbing the Dead is not a standalone and you must read the first two books in the series to understand what happens in The third book in a series, Disturbing the Dead is not a standalone and you must read the first two books in the series to understand what happens in this book. Mallory, a woman who time travelled from the modern day into Victorian Scotland into the body of a young and pretty maid helps her employer to solve crimes as police consultants. When asked to attend a party of a mummy unwrapping, Mallory and Dr. Gray find a more recent body instead.
Kelley Armstrong is one of my all time favorite authors and this book proved yet again why I love her. I was riveted by this book and was finding excuses to keep listening to it as much as possible. In some regards in this third book we got some closure as the reader on certain topics. But what I really love is Mallory the main character and all of the relationships she has built with all of the side characters. That's what Kelley does best, bringing a cast of characters to life as if they're people you would know, even in Victorian Scotland.
This has quickly become one of my favorite series, and I hope there's a plan for MANY installments in the future because I cannot get enough of them.
I was gifted an advanced listening copy of this book via libro.fm as a part of their librarian ALC program ...more
Unpopular opinion time: This series should have ended with the second book.
This third book was overly long and over-explained SO MUCH, which yes the fUnpopular opinion time: This series should have ended with the second book.
This third book was overly long and over-explained SO MUCH, which yes the first books also did, but not to this extent. I loved all of the characters in books 1 and 2 and became so attached to them and with this book I did not care at all what happened to them. I almost wish I hadn't read this book and just lived in ignorant bliss with the first two. I devoured the first two books and it took me over two months to finish this one because it was so slow and boring.
I'll still read Novik in the future, but this book made me think she was given too much freedom with her writing and I really wish an editor had come in and cut off a lot of the over-explaining of things because it was just too much....more
A beautifully written fantasy, this book was one of my more happy surprise reads this year!
Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of the Governor, and her A beautifully written fantasy, this book was one of my more happy surprise reads this year!
Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of the Governor, and her mother is Amrithi, outcasts in society. But being half-Amrithi means Mehr has inherited magic and those in power seek to use it for their own gain.
As I said before this book was written so beautifully and I loved listening along to the story. It's not necessarily groundbreaking, but also it doesn't have to be! (I say this because of reviews I saw complaining about that). I loved Mehr and Amun and the wonderful love story they had in this book. Amun is one of the great book boyfriends!
I do wish this book had been slightly shorter, but otherwise I loved it....more
It's not the fault of this book that I don't care for novellas but even though books 1 and 2 of this series were five star reads for me, th 3.5 stars
It's not the fault of this book that I don't care for novellas but even though books 1 and 2 of this series were five star reads for me, this one was too short for me to be invested/love it. Taking place between books 2 and 3, this novella follows Mallory as she follows a housemaid into an underground crime ring.
I mostly read this so I wouldn't be confused reading book 3. Lots of little tidbits and new characters thrown in here that I think will become important. I wish this book was in audio as I think I would have enjoyed it much more in that format....more
Wow that ending! So glad I have the next book ready to go, I can't imagine if I had to wait for the third book to be released!
The Last Gra 4.5 stars!
Wow that ending! So glad I have the next book ready to go, I can't imagine if I had to wait for the third book to be released!
The Last Graduate is the second book in the Scholomance series, picking up right where book one left off. El has been warned by her mother to stay away from her friend (and possibly something more) Orion. El has bigger things on her mind, like trying to make it through the deadly event that is graduation.
I won't say much else plot-wise, but I had a really fun time reading this book. I do think Novik can get a little bit tedious with the spellcasting bits and the schooling parts, but she's very good at world-building and that's essentially what that all was. Novik has never been one to make characters I really like in the past, but this series is different. I love El as an unlikable female heroine and her journey surviving in this school but also discovering things she didn't know about herself. I'm very excited to see what happens in the next book...more
El, short for Galadriel, is an outcast at her school. Every day the students fight creatures called "mals" to survive and take classes at the same timEl, short for Galadriel, is an outcast at her school. Every day the students fight creatures called "mals" to survive and take classes at the same time. When school star Orion saves El from a mal, she sparks his attention when she doesn't act like all of his fawning admirers. But El doesn't want anything from Orion, she just wants to make it to graduation.
At first, when I started reading this book I thought I would DNF it. Naomi Novik is an author who doesn't always work for me and I was skeptical but wanted to give this book a chance. The world-building info dump at the beginning of the book may deter a lot of readers, but once you get past the first 40-50 pages it really picks up the pace from there.
I'm a sucker for an "unlikeable heroine" and El was great. She was mean, unfriendly, and completely vulnerable but had no way to show it. The developing friendship between her and Orion was fun to watch, and I ended up loving a lot of the side characters in this book too. By the end, I was running to the bookstore to buy the next two books because I want to read them as soon as possible....more
Misery is the daughter of one of the most powerful councilmembers in the vampire community, and all her life her father has used her as a pawn. After Misery is the daughter of one of the most powerful councilmembers in the vampire community, and all her life her father has used her as a pawn. After spending more than a decade amongst humans, Misery is now marrying the Alpha of the werewolves in order to broker peace between the wolves and the vampires. But Misery has her own agenda, and she plans to infiltrate the wolves to get what she wants.
I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. Ali Hazelwood, while I love her, has churned out fairly similar contemporary romance novels set in the academic world and I was skeptical that she could write a decent fantasy novel. I shouldn't have been because this book was frickin great! She really pulled off a great urban fantasy romance and I devoured it. I do wish worldbuilding had been a little bit stronger and that there had been a smidge more romance, but overall a great book filled with wonderful characters.
I will say I laughed my butt off when I read (view spoiler)[ that the MC had a knot on his penis that served as a magical vagina plug (hide spoiler)] but otherwise this book was solid....more
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