DB

I didn't pick up that this would be a series but I'm totally fine with that. I think my favourite part is when Rae made them believe AF stood for As Foretold. Think about it! If you were in a fantasy book and the villain who claims and then proves herself to be a seer tells you a certain phrase means something – you'd believe it! There's no Google to back it up. Which is why I think Rae was able to be successful here, why this bizzare plan worked. While there are obviously modern elements in the book, it's largely set in a world where there are things as seers and prophecies. So if she said something weird, she can just chalk it up to a prophecy! Normally I'd side-eye it and say “No, that absolutely cannot work” but Sarah Rees Brennan made it work in a way I really enjoyed.

I liked how we had a modern insight and character experience a fantasy heavy world. It was almost like we were speaking through her because I could see myself react like that in those situations. While I found myself not liking Rae in every scene, I grew to like her, her personality, personal growth throughout the book. She realized that the characters in the book were people instead of just fictional characters. She found strength in her that she likely didn't even know she had. I can't wait to see her journey in the next book, what Brennan has planned for her.

The secondary characters were so fun to read and get to know. I think my favourite would probably be Key – he was funny and even though he did annoy me for a good half of the book – he certainly made up for it by creeping into my heart and stabbing anyone who wanted to come close. Seeing the other secondary characters encounter and communicate with Rae was also quite fun. They either had no idea what to do with her or just did whatever she demanded them to do. Which Rae definitely enjoyed and utilised to her heart's content. I think next book she'd probably ask for more/make them do more because she has the experience now and knows they'll do what she says. I think I might be rooting for a villain arc for Rae here

dnf at 61%

As you can see by my percentage, I did really try with this one. But as you can see that it's here, it didn't really matter. Even though my Kindle told me it would take roughly another half hour to finish the book, I wasn't up for finishing it. I like Hades and Persephone retellings – which is why I requested this – but it didn't work out. My liking for Persephone went up and down as the book carried on. Some scenes I liked her, other times I felt like she didn't have a solid personality. I liked Hades, I thought he had quite a solid personality – but that wouldn't have been enough for me to carry on.

The writing was a big reason why I chose not to finish the book. It wasn't capturing my attention as much as I would like. Around the time I stopped there was suddenly a trial about to happen? And Persephone was meant to partake for some reason? If that had happened either at the start of the book or have been the main plot point, I probably would've carried on as I really like trials. I noticed the dialogue wasn't flowing neatly and unfortunately that tends to make or break a novel for me.

dnf at 26%

I almost immediately noticed the ableism in the book and I wasn't a fan. The one main character has a cleft palate and it's constantly being referred to as a “deformity”. There's another character named Simon, but the whole town calls him “Simple Simon” because he's... mentally disabled? And apparently later on he wields a chainsaw? I was reaching close to the dnf button but decided to carry on.

I had dnfed this author's other book so I was interested in seeing if my feelings would change in this one – I think I lasted longer in the other book. The plot wasn't much to write about and according to spoiler reviews, it carries on being confusing until the end of the book, ending on a sort of a cliffhanger and not much being explained.

I've said this multiple times but I'll say it again – I don't mind long sentences. What I mind is when they're too long and they don't work as long sentences, that's where I have an issue. Mister Lullaby doesn't have well-written long sentences, unfortunately.

dnf at 65%

I wanted to like this, that's why I pushed to 65%. I couldn't get into it and I didn't want to push myself to finish it for the sake of finishing. I realised I didn't know or care about any of the characters. The illustrations also played a factor in not really keeping my interest and I feel like that's a big part of in reading graphic novels! I don't know if I'll ever get to the Sleeping Beauties book but we'll see if I ever do and how I'll feel. Otherwise I just really didn't have much to feel about it? Which is why this review is so short. Even though I did try I couldn't connect to anything or anyone in here.

Absolutely let the forest in by reading this book

Andrew, Thomas, and Dove, Andrew's twin sister, were three main characters who all felt so real. I don't know how Drews did it but it worked so so well. The characters, along with the atmosphere of the setting, allowed me to feel as if I were right there along with them; going to school with them, battling the monsters in the forest with them. Even though Dove featured less than the boys you still got a feeling for her personality, how much she loved her brother, had a confusing relationship with Thomas. I loved how codependent the boys were. It made me think of The Wicker King by K. Ancrum – another book I loved. Andrew and Thomas wanted to be near each other, had to be near each other. Even if it sometimes seemed to be a bad thing, their relying on each other. That they both had this innate need to be near each other. I drank it all in so much.

Thomas with his “I hate everyone but you” attitude (a microtrope I do love). Andrew with his near-obsession with Thomas. Dove pulling away from her brother and Thomas even though she was close before. I couldn't pull myself away from any of it. I did think their school was a bit weird/unbelievable for not being more present in their lives. But also I'll choose to believe that either they had no idea how to deal with everything or the school was (dealing with it) and the characters just refused to listen. I think with another writer I would've gotten annoyed at how many times Andrew went on about Thomas, how almost all of his thoughts and (nearly) his whole world revolved around him; but I never got that with Drews. I think that spoke of how good their writing was.

The plot was interestingly weird and there was a definite focus on the characters rather than the plot. Even so, the plot was still excellent. it balanced whatever weird things were happening in the woods with their lives and glimpses into their schooling. Obviously the focus wasn't meant to be on their classes, it never was. Only what they were going through that day, how it made them feel. The book did something I love (specifically in horror movies) where things seem to be fine... until they aren't. Until odd things start happening, keep rising until they're so visible. It's one way to get me into a story and to keep me there.

The writing was so good. I easily fell into the world and the descriptions of Andrew's writing and Thomas's drawings were so well-written they came alive. Also the physical books have illustrations (I think maybe the normal ones not just special editions). Now I know what to look forward to for Drews' backlist books and their new releases (the cover for Hazelthorn just released and it is absolutely excellent). It's magical and stunning and I thoroughly recommend it to you all!

Actual rating 4.5

This is super short at 82 pages but it packs quite a punch! I highlighted quite a couple of quotes in the book because I liked how it spoke of death. I liked that we got this pov – a cleaner who specifically cleans dead hoarders' houses. That even though we like to fill up our houses with everything we could ever want, but not need, it'll just... stay there in our house. Whatever you might have done in life, your possessions will merely be thrown away by a group of people who are paid to do so – which makes you just as ordinary as the next person. I liked that we were being told all of this sort of from a future perspective. Like we're looking back at the events to see how it all played out. Meet Paul before things happened to him, find out what kind of person he is.

Another thing I really liked was the writing. Spooky, atmospheric, chilled me right to the bone. Sometimes actions or feelings were being described and I sat there wide-eyed and grossed-out. That made me love the book even more. Busby did a great job at making me feel like I was there cleaning with Paul (and I didn't want to be). Even though this was a really quick read it made up for it in its strong writing and characters.

Normally I love magical school settings but it didn't work here. Barely anything happens at the school because it's so centred on the main character and her ‘boy troubles' (more on that later). I wasn't bothered by the book being character-driven; I just think it's silly to fully focus on the characters when you're attending a magical boarding school and have to battle all sorts of creatures. We do get sections and glimpses of the world-building but then the attention swings back to the main character. An issue I had for the first 40 or so percent is I kept getting confused between Grimm and Grievers. Grimms are the creatures that the Grievers often have to battle. A Griever is what Everly is. There are Grimms at the academy but they're good/instructors for the Grievers. I kept getting confused because in the (excellent) tv series Grimm – Grimm is the name of those who hunt down the creatures. I don't really have much to say about the worldbuilding, other than I was rather let down. I'm guessing more will be revealed and explored later in the series but I'm not going to carry on.

I didn't feel much of anything for the main character, Everly. She tried to act really smart and the book kept telling us she was smart but it never really showed her intelligence. All the characters felt the same. When they said a name I had to wrack my brain to figure out ‘best friend? Best friend's brother? Quiet girl?' etc. I don't want to do that. None of the characters felt like they were fleshed-out – not even Everly and she's the main character! You would expect the main character, her best friend, and her twin brother to be well-rounded characters because we know they all know each other before the book. It's not as if they've just met at the school – they've known each other for years now. So why did it feel like they knew nothing about each other?

Now because I know YA books and series, I can tell there'll be a love triangle. Everly, the apparent ‘bad boy' at the school (who's not? bad at all? He's slightly arrogant but you could probably chalk it up to him being a guy or the best student in class), and the best friend's brother (Hunter). Now Hunter has a girlfriend who's a bit of a bitch towards Everly (why do we have to have this?). There's a scene where he says “I love you” to his girlfriend on the phone and then strokes Everly on the face or something. And then BLAMES HER for ‘tempting him'? Everly, if I were you I'd be running away. But no, she CONTINUED to be attracted to him. Honestly even Ian, the ‘bad boy' wasn't a great contender either. I have a feeling this will continue on into the trilogy – which I won't be carrying on with. I don't know what I dislike more – best friend's brother or love triangle.

I also can't tell you what the plot was about because I just... had no idea. I couldn't firmly grasp it, it seemed to be all over the place. Even near the end it didn't feel like anything had really happened. A girl goes missing from the academy earlyish on in the book (I think early) and then it's not really spoken about until the end mark. But you can clearly tell it's the first book in a trilogy. Plot points are started with the intention of carrying on in the next book. Characters are set up with the bare bones of personalities so you have to read the next book to see their story. At 89% it still didn't feel like anything really happened. I had an hour left in the audio and it felt like I was halfway.

Another thing I didn't understand why it even happened was they have to set up fake social media accounts. So it looks like they're doing normal things at their boarding school (that's it, that's the reason). Everly, of course, doesn't have social media accounts (#notlikeothergirls) and they have to create ones for her. For some reason Everly gets paired with Ian and the whole thing... is just to have them ‘act' like a couple in the photos. Which brings tension because “he's a bad boy. Holland and Hunter told me so.” They then give her a book and she just... sits down and reads and they snap pictures of her because she's giving the perfect casual look while reading? They also allow her to only read the book... when she's taking photos in the on-campus photo studio. I think this happened like once in the book so I really didn't understand why.

Throughout the book I kept getting this feeling that the book reminded me of something. And then it dawned on me – a (bad) CW tv show. Classic paranormal, school setting, love triangle, mystery. Holland was annoying in that CW best friend way.

It took me a while (15 days) to read and finish this book, which for me is long time. Now I know it's a long book but also I know I've read this many pages before (aka 600+ page books) and read them quicker. It all depends on the pacing/characters/plot strength and obviously, how much I'm enjoying it. It's a big world and there's a lot of world-building attached to it. It's done well, even though I took a while and rated it 3 stars. I liked that the book was very rich on all three fronts – plot, characters, world-building. Luckily the author was able to balance it all well enough (it was other reasons why I didn't rate it higher).

This is probably a me thing but... modern terms/word in a full-fantasy world are still a new concept to me. If I see them in a book it tends to take me out, reminding me of where I actually am. When I'm reading fantasy I like to think I'm in the book itself. One or two “Yeah” in a full fantasy world isn't that bad (in fact it works for me in other books but that's due to the author's writing style). There were multiple and other modern instances

I don't read that many short story anthologies but I usually enjoy them when I do. This was such a stellar read! Normally I find myself rating them 4 or so but this time I couldn't rate it anything other than 5! I enjoyed almost every story. I loved the casual representation featured in them and see! It's easy! To include them!

I'll write specific thoughts for each of the stories and then add a ⚔️ by my favourites – I like doing that for short stories.

One Cream, Five Sugars by Harper Kinsley – This was a cute one! The cute meetings and there's a service dog. This one I could've definitely had more of (like with a lot of these short stories).

A Witch's Tale by Rascal Hartley – I'm always up for a good mentor story. I liked how the main character in this adapted – going from “Oh I can't do x” to “I can do x, just in y way”. And that's something you can either be taught by someone else or learn by yourself.

Use Your Words by Zira McFarlane – This one was cute (I'll say that about a lot of them haha). I liked the inclusion of sign language and how the two main characters worked well together.

⚔️ The Changeling of Brushby by Natalie Kelda. I loved the inclusion of autism and “oh everyone thinks I'm weird but the Fae... Like me”. I liked getting to know Tilde and just wanted the best for her – luckily she got exactly that.

To Make Her Eat by M. Stevenson – listen, I'm just out here eating up all the weird Fae stories (look, romantasy Fae is fun and all but normal weird Fae stories... Even better)

⚔️ Hope, Be It Never So Faint by Ashley N. Y. Sheesley – I'd first heard about this anthology from Ashley so I couldn't wait to get to it! I LOVED the idea of Marian in a wheelchair!

A Night for Mischief by Elior Hayley – This one was a fun ride with deception and twists. One thing shown multiple times in this anthology was aids – in this specific story it was hearing aids but they're called sound-catchers. And that shows that you can have hearing and other aids in fantasy!

Lessons in Botany by Casper E. Falls – I always love this story that it's based upon and seeing it like this is a cool change.

⚔️ Stroke of Midnight, Shoes of Glass by Adie Hart – I'm always up for a Cinderella retelling. I like how she bonded with the prince (as always) and had fun – that's what I enjoy the most about the retellings, seeing her have fun.

In Another World, I Twist The Knife by Rory G. – This was quite confusing to follow but I managed to eventually and I ended up enjoying it.

The Knife That Makes The Cut by Lynne Sargent – This was also confusing but interesting in the end. But what I like – because I'm sure about this – even if I don't really understand the story, there'll be others that really do.

Angharad Ferch Truniaw by Tam Ayers – While this wasn't one of my favourites I still really enjoyed it and the journey it took me on of family and the determination showed by the main character.

The Girl and the Gum-Riddle by Ella T. Holmes – This was so weird and I loved every moment i was reading it. I liked how it just ended and “hey, the girl might be okay but she'll also go through a lot of flares” like same.

City of the Sun by Kara Siert – This was sad at times but I liked the turn it took because it was focused on community and being with loved ones – through the hard times.

There's something about enemies-to-lovers books that just keep me coming back to the trope. What I like even more is when the characters have history – where they're friends before and then something happens to turn them into enemies. But as they're (begrudgingly) spending time with each other years later... that hatred slowly turns into something else. Listen, it's just good every time. And that was certainly true here. Cassia and Zeru had that in spades. Their species, not to mention their families were at odds and total enemies. Of course, you know what happened – we all know what happens in an enemies-to-lovers book. What changes is the journey – how they went from wanting to kill each other to kiss.

The characters were well-written and developed well alongside the plot – I thought Blake did that well. Both, however, were quite slow-paced. I don't have an issue with slow-paced books in the slightest but it felt like the book wanted to be paced faster and the developments were slowing it down. Now and then the book seemed to be at a faster pace and then it would just slow down like the author remembered she wanted it to be slow. Though with slow-paced books there's more time to slowly develop everything – which happened here. We slowly got to know the characters, their motivations, their personalities, and their stories all develop.

We also got a slow romance, which was nice, even though I wanted it to speed up at times. Cassia and Zeru complement each other and it'll be interesting to see where they go from here – what they do and how they face the dangers together. Of course, and how they grow more in love with each other – because they are quite cute together. I liked how their relationship tied in so well with the plot – I like when that happens and when the author does it well. Still I would've liked the pacing of the romance to have been faster, but like I said earlier – it didn't deter me from liking it.

The plot was largely about secrets and the histories of the two species – which wasn't handled like it could've been. I think what added to it was the constant feeling of the book being a debut novel. Then I found out the author has a whole other series aka very much not a debut book. But the feeling that it was still stayed. Of course I'm not saying that debut novels are bad in any way – just that this book seemed like it was Blake's debut. I have no idea what the other two books will be about (as it's a trilogy) as I thought the book did well as a standalone) but we'll see when those books come out. Maybe about the other sisters?

Review coming soon.

Review coming soon.

Review coming soon.

I enjoyed this tremendously! It definitely amped up my interest in the trilogy and I could see why other readers love it. It improved the characters we already met while introducing new ones. The action was better this time around, the politics (which was already good in the first one) were even more interesting this time. I’ve grown to like politics in fantasies, especially when they’re done well and that’s the case here.

I like wars and battles (in fantasy books) but I like the lead-up to the war more. Figuring out who your allies are, whom you can trust and what secrets can you tell them. Lin really grew as a character in here. She had to take on a lot of extra responsibility and grow into her power. Jovis just continues to be my utter favourite throughout the series. He’s funny, he’s good, he’s just… Jovis, I don’t know what to tell you. The others (Phalue etc) were a bit more interesting this time around but I still had to make myself pay attention when it were their chapters. I did like how they all had to take up more responsibility too, just like Lin does, but they’re all extremely different people. The focus is a bit more on Lin and Jovis – plots, characterisation, so I didn’t feel too bad about having difficulty reading it.

Stewart only improved on the world-building and magic system in here, She definitely shines in those aspects and I hope that stays by her others books (I plan to read the new one this year – hopefully). I’m always happy to follow an author if it means I get good worldbuilding and magic system. I don’t think I got that “Second Book Slump” feeling that a bunch of sequels tend to have – which I’m happy about. Seeing as I wasn’t entirely enjoying the first book, I’m glad I felt better this time around.

I’m someone who really loves dual and multi povs but multiple audio narrators… I’m still getting there. It is easier when there’s at least one male narrator to at least change things up at the risk of the female narrators sounding the same. But when you’re listening at double speed just about everyone sounds the same. It’s not the book’s fault that I rated it 3.5 (even though that’s not really a low rating). It took a while to get into the story and the characters. In fact most of the trilogy was me trying to fully understand the story and characters. The action was great, Stewart is good at letting her readers be immersed in the world and action. I found that she’s good at writing physical action and magic – which is great because not many authors can successfully balance the two. The magic system was confusing but also interesting! I didn’t expect myself to understand it by the end of the first book (although I didn’t really understand by the end of the trilogy either) and I’m glad it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.

There’s five main characters and all of them have their own chapters. It took me awhile to like Lin, the Emperor’s daughter who’s trying to make her father proud of her. I think it was around the mid-mark (of the book) that I liked her a bit more and also further on (into the series). She’s a strong character who figures out what she wants and her place in the world – I liked that. Jovis was probably my favourite main character. He’s got that ‘accidental dad vibe’ to him which showed when he got an animal companion – who was absolutely adorable and basically my other favourite character. I almost immediately liked him and liked getting to his chapters. I had an issue where I’d started reading Lin as as Upper YA (like she’s 18 or a bit younger) and Jovis as nearly 30. So I side-eyed this book for a while until I realised that Lin = adult. I still don’t know her actual age but after that I felt better 😅. For most of this book she did feel younger but at least not actual teenager. Other than that I liked their relationship and was happy to follow it.

The next two characters (Phalue and Ramani) are in the same place so you get a lot of the same plots (but different feelings). It didn’t help that their individual character voices weren’t distinct in my opinion, though their personalities were well-written. I would’ve picked one, not both of them as a point of view – but I couldn’t tell you which one I would’ve chosen. My least liked POV is Sand, an outsider, and not much is really revealed about her at the start. She was an interesting character but I don’t think I ever really liked her.

Stewart put her heart into this book, making it a great ending to a fierce trilogy. The characters grew, they evolved, I’m not mad about how their stories end – which can happen quite easily, let me tell you. If Stewart wants to write a novella set in the future about what happens far after the war. I like wars in fantasy, but I like the build-up and aftermath even more. Not sure why – maybe it’s the politics I like? Building/restoring communities? Also it’s making me want to go back and reread the trilogy! Which is great because I’m all for the re-readability of a book/series. I want to go back to the world and the characters. One thing that’s clear with this trilogy is that it’s so much of a unique story, worldbuilding, and characters. I think that’s why it’s good and how it builds it way up – even when the plot reaches its climax it doesn’t stop being good and unique. That’s what I want and like in books.

I didn’t realise that there was a time jump (two years) between the second book and this one. It did jar me a bit and took me a bit to get back into the story but luckily it didn’t stop me from enjoying it. Although Stewart did make the time jump work which is something that isn’t the case for everyone.

I did feel a bit more connected to the other main characters that I wasn’t (connected to) in this book. Even though we’re finishing the book and therefore won’t be spending time with them, I think I gained a better understanding for them and started to like them a bit. Although Lin and Jovis remain my firm favourites. I really liked going on their journeys and see them through the pain and fights they have to deal with. The ossalens were great, I’d definitely like to know more about them in any way. They had such personality and I think Stewart had a fun time writing them.