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@natureaestheticdreams for more 🪴

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Time of the Twins

Book 2 of 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I sped through this.

I love this world so much, and the characters within. I had some reservations at the start because I didn't feel super attached to the twins, but my opinion of them has changed a lot now that I'm finished this.

Just wow.

The writing and world building never ceases to amaze me. I'm always on the hook at every turn. Already am working on the second book in this trilogy. Love love love.

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I’ll have to try something like this!!

What a fun stack of books, Spellshop is on my list too!

here are all the books on my 25 in 2025 book challenge lineup! Already started The Spellshop and am enjoying it a lot! It looks daunting having them all lined up like this, but I'm warming up to the idea of picking from a stack based on my mood at the time :)

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Book Review 2 - A Dark and Drowning Tide

★★☆☆☆ - 2/5 Stars I felt little/no enjoyment, even lost some braincells.

"Someday, maybe, they'd benefit from her selfishness" "It was foolish, Lorelei thought, for a man like him to display a weakness so plainly"

The book club pick for this month, only two people enjoyed this book, and a few people DNF. Such a shame, since this is such a lovely cover, but a gentle reminder to not judge a book by it's cover. Although, this statement isn't wholly and truly accurate 100% of the time, today, it is correct.

I think this book needed a little bit more workshopping. From unlikeable and flat characters, clumsy world building, and inattentive plot, this was very disappointing for me. There were moments of really great voice, as shown by the quotes above, but that wasn't enough for me to give three stars, unfortunately. I can give grace to all of these issues individually, but when the sum of the parts feel clumsily placed together, it creates unease and disingenuousness. Perhaps this was a rushed project?

I didn't like this, and that's okay! Hopefully the people who received more enjoyment of this book than I did would be willing to share what they liked!

The stats: 2024, USA author

Signed,

bookbard

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The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.

Book II Chapter 6, Lothlórien

The Lord of the Rings acrylic paintings (70s) by Tim and Greg Hildebrandt

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Bookstores always remind me that there are good things in this world.

— Vincent van Gogh

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Hello Tumblr! I used to be very active on Instagram and had a specific account dedicated to book reviews and all things book related! I have recently moved away from Meta platforms and hope to find my way back into the book community here on Tumblr! I want to connect with others who have the same passion and I need some good book recs anyways lol so I will continue posting my book reviews and photography on this account.

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They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman

4/5 Stars

YA isn't typically my thing, but I decided to give They Wish They Were Us a shot. Honestly, I'm glad I did - for a murder mystery, it was pretty interesting. It was very good for a YA novel, and I'm by no means going to knock it for what it was.

The twists were pretty easy to see coming, but they were well-plotted; nothing felt too sudden or out of place. Looking back, it was easy to track the trajectory of the story after all the pieces had fallen into place.

My only real complaint is that the ending felt a little disjointed - in withholding info from the reader, Jessica Goodman inadvertently withheld too much, taking me out of the story rather than leaving me in suspense.

Overall, though, if you're looking for a murder mystery that's not too heavy on the trigger warnings (though there are still definitely a few big ones), I'd recommend They Wish They Were Us. It's great for fans of high school life and entry-level mystery readers, or even just readers looking for a change of pace like I was!

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All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings

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No other blood in me, but mine.

Silvera, Gojira

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Progress Update - The Sun is out and therefore I shall read

The sun has been filling the sky, and suddenly I have never known emptiness.

After finishing Once and Future King, I have been feeling that sense of book emptiness. Though, I did give my paperback copy to someone who I though needed it, and that always makes me feel happy. Sharing in books is the best part about reading, truly.

In-Progress Books:

Hyperion - 41% Frankenstein - 58% Name of the Wind (reread, reading buddied) - 16%

I LOVE the first chapter of Hyperion, the narrative structure is so cool, and refreshing. That being said, why is there so much damn sex. It's so distracting for what a cool as fuck world and story Dan Simmons is crafting. That's probably the only reason why the book isn't completed yet, I just get ripped from the story when there's a ton of stuff like that. Gotta love sci-fi sometimes /s

Frankenstein is wonderful, what a game changer for the world.

Please dramatically yell at my partner and I's schedule so that we have time to continue painting, thus continuing Name of the Wind, it's one of my all time favs and upon reread it's even better.

Completed Books:

1. Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo 2. A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft* 3. Once and Future King by T. H. White* 4. Book of Merlyn by T. H. White*

*Reviews coming soon!

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[ looking for book blogs! ]

hi there, book lovers! since it's a new year, I wanted to do a fresh post to call out all book-focused blogs on Tumblr! If you primarily post bookish content, like and reblog this post and I'll follow you back! here's to growing the booklr community!

Please share this and explore the previous likes/reblogs to discover more accounts!

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Review unto Thee: Death on Gokumon Island

★★★☆☆ - 3/5 Stars Good and enjoyable! Fun, though not impactful.

Written by Seishi Yokomizo in 1947-1948, Death on Gokumon Island is the second book in the Kosuke Kindaichi series. Kosuke is a quirky guy, admittedly based off of Sherlock Holmes, and he is such a fun protagonist along with the series itself being fun and interesting. I read this on a plane after the holidays, and although I think I preferred the first Honjin Murders, this was great too!

What I found most profound is the narrative's perspective on the second world war, which was, to be clear, not a main point of the book. I always had this understanding that Japan was an extremely proud country, and they believed their involvement was justified (cough cough, thanks US education system). This book shows that the common citizen did not agree with the war, and even thought it was silly. Which, of course, makes sense. I don't agree with my president, why wouldn't others? This is why I like reading books, to gain new perspectives and ideas of other human beings!

In the future, I will absolutely be continuing the series. It's a great palate cleanser for me in between other, bigger, novels. This book is a fun and relatively light read, and I look forward to more of Kindaichi from Yokomizo!

Signed,

book-bard

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TBR, To Be or not To Be Read

Another fun project idea is that I hope to make a detailed catalogue of my library. To start with that, we'll list any and all book hauls! I hope to justify my purchases by making a few sentences to explain to myself why I bought this book, and to hopefully make more informed purchases in the future!

Book Haul, fulfilling the Collection

I recently went to my local indie bookstore, and bought... a few... books. Take a look!

The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers

I have read King in Yellow since I am a huge fan of Lovecraft/Cosmic Horror genre. One of these days, I want to go on a whole ass rant as to why I enjoy reading and researching my favorite artists' favorite artist. Chambers, and the King in Yellow is specifically cited as being Lovecraft's biggest inspiration, and so I read this a while ago. It's a collection of four short stories all centered on the fictional, yet mysterious novel that seems to curse everyone who comes across it. Two of the four stories are some of the most gripping short stories I've read, and they other two are okay. From the pretty cover, to the fantastic two short stories, it was worth adding to my growing collection!

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

A justification/research post was written for this book not too long ago, you can read more about it here!

Once and Future King (PRETTY VERSION) by T. H. White

Book of Merlyn by T. H. White

I'm combining these books together because they're in the same series-ish. I had just finished O&FK and was reading the Book of Merlyn when I went to the bookstore. Funny enough, I had been searching for a pretty, HC, copy of this book for ages. Basically my new favorite book, I didn't think that I would find a pretty copy since I hadn't seen any online. UNTIL I SAW THIS. Honestly, it doesn't look that great online, but in person it reeks regality.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

A fantasy classic, this has been on my list for a hot minute. My first introduction to the series was from the show (amazon prime?), I loved the idea but couldn't get into the show. Hopefully, the book is better!

Legends & Lattes (HC PRETTY VERSION) by Travis Baldree

I love Legends & Lattes! I've consumed the whole series, and although I love the OG artwork, I saw a HC UK special edition that I just HAD to grab.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

When I used to work at the book store, we always kept this book and subsequent series in stock. I hadn't heard anything about it, but the cover was always striking. Not sure when, but I finally put two and two together that the movie Annihilation is based off of this book! Now that I know, I grabbed this book as quick as I could.

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200+ Sapphic Books Out in 2025

200+ Sapphic Books Out in 2025 (The Lesbrary)

On the Lesbrary, I shared a link to my spreadsheet of upcoming sapphic books out in 2025!

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“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.” - Donna Tartt

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