#BookReviews

[tealeavesand-roses]

Status: read Rating: 5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

Simply in awe. Weyward by Emilia Hart has stolen my heart and is easily my favorite read of the year. Weyward is a beautiful historical fiction tale with themes of witchcraft, nature, womanhood, and gothic horror, this story delves into the lives of three women throughout scattered periods of time. Altha's story takes place in 1619, Violet's takes place in 1942, and Kate's takes place in 2019. Each woman's story is as captivating as the next.

As I was finishing Violet's chapter regarding her mother and her family's history, I began to tear up, I flipped the page to the next chapter and I stumbled upon a beautiful white feather. I began to sob. My boyfriend had gotten me this book from a second-hand online shop and the previous owner must have left it in there. I felt like the feather was fantastically symbolic of what I was feeling and I felt so connected in that moment to myself, to nature, and spiritually to those in my life who have passed.

Could not recommend this book enough 🪶🌿🪲🐦‍⬛

[made4chaos]

I’ve been incredibly nervous to share some of my book content on this page, but cheers to taking the plunge and doing it anyways!

If you’d like to see more of my content, reviews, recs and more, you can follow me on Instagram!

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[reviewsthatburn]

THE WITCH KING by Martha Wells is excellent and I had a great time reading it. The worldbuilding is nuanced and well-developed, with factions and history in a way that implies much more going on, but not getting bogged down in little details that don’t matter to this particular story. It deals with colonization and empire from the perspective of a quasi-immortal character (Kai) who has not been around forever, but has been around long enough that things which are part of his culture and history are now details that would fascinate only historians. The narrative shifts between two time periods in his life. This means that some events are mentioned before they were actually shown, but it was generally in a way that made the whole thing easier to follow. The two timelines are connected, as the main characters are trying to figure out whether the plan they were working on when they were betrayed is still salvageable. 

Full Review at Link

[diannestorytime]

My Best Reads of This and That - 9 Black Beauty (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1524694598-my-best-reads-of-this-and-that-9-black-beauty?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=Diannestorytime Reviews and recommendations of the best books I have read. Inspiring, enchanting, sad, tragic, fantasy, exquisitely crafted, fiction, non-fiction, all that gives books a life of their own. For if a book is not read, it does not live. Come read with me and live. Read a new review every Monday.

[readersmagnet]

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[bookish-afrolatina]

FEBRUARY MINI REVIEWS, pt 1:

Two books I knew I wanted to read in February were Bemused by Farrah Rochon and Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis. Here are my mini reviews:

Bemused by Farrah Rochon

This is such a sweet book! The muses were definitely my favorite part of the Hercules movie so I loved this take on their backstory. It’s pretty fast-paced and adventurous which made it an entertaining book to listen to while I did chores.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis

Despite the title, I found much of this book to be comforting. For one, we have Angela Davis, a woman who was once targeted by our government, sharing her insights on every issue from Black Feminism & Civil Rights to "terrorism" & occupied Palestine. Through all of the activism she has been a part of she is still here & I'm incredibly grateful that she hasn't given up the fight. Davis's words will probably be echoing in my mind for days & weeks to come.

[sweettalkertime]

Bratva Butcher by TJ Maguire

I jumped the series (I know), but I was completely thrown for a loop when I read this book. It’s easy to favor and want Lukyan’s story when he’s the funniest character within the series, so I was not expecting the Butcher to get a story before him. But I do understand why. The timeline for this story was strategically planned. Everything lined up. The plot just continued to thicken. So…

[bigheartedbibliophile]

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary: 👩🏿👩‍❤️‍👩👩🏿‍🔬

Read: April 2021

Grace Porter works harder than most people. She has to, as a queer, black woman in the astronomy field. Her whole life, she’s been planning for her dream career. She has been in school nearly her entire life, and now, with her PhD. in hand, finding a job should be easy, right? When she wakes up in Vegas to find that she’s married to a random girl and doesn’t get the job her professor said she was a shoo-in for, Grace realizes she needs a break. She leaves her entire plan behind to truly get to know the woman she married - and herself. This book is about self-love, mental health, and finding your place in the world. It’s about being okay with not being perfect, finding your family, and choosing who you want to be.

I laughed. I cried. I'm still crying. This book was so well written and so relatable. This book will rip your heart out and sew it back together. 💖

[its-suanneschafer-author]

My March 2025 book reviews. The best of these: #Tangles by #KaySmithBlum, a love story overshadowed by the after-effects of the search for the atomic bomb and #CleverLittleThing by #Helena Echlin, a domestic thriller well worth reading.

[kalereviews8782]

Review: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

Enjoyment: 5 / Prose: 5 / Characters: 4 / Plot: 5

pros: deconstruction of religion ftw!!! also grumpy turtle! humans being bros!

cons: -

Honestly what is there to say about Small Gods that hasn't been said? God named Om gets turned into a turtle, only believer is a meek dude named Brutha, creepy guy Vorbis tries to take power. Seems simple (and the plot is) but gods, is every section of this book filled with equal parts humor and compassion. Pratchett's sense of comedy seems perfectly made just for me, and I don't run into that often. The characters here were difficult for me to connect with at first, compared to Samuel Vines or Death (who does get an appearance!!), but eventually Om and Brutha grew on me. Brutha teaches Om some pretty human things (forgiveness, mercy). Pratchett's understanding of human behavior is unmatched.

Some favorite bits:

*"There were twenty-three other novies in Brutha's dormitory, on the principle that sleeping alone promoted sin. This always puzzled the novices themselves, since a moment's reflection would suggest there were whole ranges of sins only available in company. But that was because a moment's reflection was the biggest sin of all."

*""What have I always believed? That on the whole, and by and large, if a man lived properly, not according to what any priests said, but according to what seemed decent and honest inside, then it would, at the end, more or less, turn out all right".

*"'Nothing is impossible for the strong in faith,' said Vorbis. 'Try striking a match on jelly, mister.'"

[bluexari]

Book aesthetic

My fav book aesthetic

[tealeavesand-roses]

Status: reading Rating: tbd Solita by Vivien Rainn 🫀

[gabsreadingagain]

🌺⚽️🎨 Review: Cruel King by Rina Kent

Where do I even start with this book? Buckle up y'all its gonna be a wild ride. I just love Rina Kent men (I should seek help).

Astrid is quiet & to herself and honestly just trying to make it out of RES unscathed. When Astrid meets Levi unexpectedly, any plans that she had for laying low and flying under the radar her senior year of RES just went out the window. Levi is intent on making sure that doesn't happen. He's set is sights on Astrid and he's determined to break her. Now she's got RES's Cruel King's attention and he's not going anywhere.

Levi is possessive, broody, alpha, and everything we love in our fictional bully boyfriends. Levi might be the KING but Astrid definitely showed him that she's the QUEEN. Whatever Levi threw her way she gave it back tenfold. She is such a powerful FMC and we love her for that.

Astrid's story really got me in my feels, I deff cried a couple times. She struggled through so much. Her life was plagued by stress, trauma, death, and lots of family issues. If I could square up with their stupid stepmom I WOULD. Levi has also been through some shit. His father is dead, he lives with his Uncle who he hates, he's got reason to be as cruel as he is. Levi is a complex character in the best way. The way Astrid and Levi are connected is so INSANE. The twist is so good you won't even see it coming. Levi was HOT. H.O.T HOT. The spice was spicing as usual in Rina's masterpieces.

Beautiful start to set up the rest of the Royal Elite Series🥀.

[reviewsthatburn]

UNDER THE SMOKESTREWN SKY brings Avery, Zib, and their companions to the Land of Ash and Embers. As fire is the most obviously transformational of the four elements in this series, I appreciate how this book focuses on transformations and the endpoints after major decisions.

As the final book in the quartet, UNDER THE SMOKESTREWN SKY wraps up many dangling narratives, including but not limited to the fate of the missing queen, whether Avery and Zib make it out of the Up-and-Under, and whether any of them reach the Impossible City. There’s a mostly new storyline which didn’t appear in the other three books, as the general goal of finding the missing queen becomes their specific task at hand. To this end they begin searching the Land of Ash and Embers on their way to the Impossible City. There’s a crisis related to Zib which is introduced and resolved in this book. As the story nears its end, Baker's narration is at times concerned as much with the emotional state of the reader as she is with the decisions made by any of the characters. A foundational assumption in Seanan McGuire's writing is that knowing something changes the person who finds it out. This is said quite explicitly in the narration as Baker discussing how you can only read the story for the first time once, after that you'll never view it the same way again.

Full Review at link

[diannestorytime]

My Best Reads of This and That - 11 The Reader (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1527668329-my-best-reads-of-this-and-that-11-the-reader?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=Diannestorytime Reviews and recommendations of the best books I have read. Inspiring, enchanting, sad, tragic, fantasy, exquisitely crafted, fiction, non-fiction, all that gives books a life of their own. For if a book is not read, it does not live. Come read with me and live. Read a new review every Monday.

[peterrsthomas]

Book Review: The Great Gatsby and Brideshead Revisited

I’ve just finished reading The Great Gatsby for the first time, and yes, I can see why it’s become a classic of American literature. The underlying themes, the gradual reveal of the Gatsby’s elusive past, the inevitable tragedy, are subtle and enduring. It reminded me of Brideshead Revisited in a way. The tragic nature of wealth, the decay beneath all that glitz and glamour—Gatsby is to American literature what Brideshead is to English.

Both are narrated by outside observers, Nick Carraway (Gatsby) and Charles Ryder (Brideshead). And both of these men are drawn into the world of wealth from modest backgrounds, and both are simultaneously invested and detached in what they see. Nick establishes a relationship with Jordan Baker, a socialite part of Gatsby’s world, and Charles with Julia, the sister of Sebastian Flyte. And both watch as Gatsby and Sebastian struggle through their personal issues.

Those observed are haunted in their own way by their past. Gatsby is obsessed with Daisy Buchanan, while Sebastian and his family are consumed by their heritage, the death of the English nobility and struggling Catholic traditions. And Gatsby and Sebastian’s family are both eventually consumed—Gatsby is killed following the attempted renewal of his relationship with Daisy, and Sebastian descends into alcoholism.

But there are, of course, key differences. Brideshead’s driving theme is the Catholic religion and English aristocracy; Gatsby’s is the American Dream, a quasi-religion in itself, I suppose, and chased with similar fervour. Fitzgerald critiques a particular form of social mobility and how it can be achieved, and amidst this the hidden classes that define American society, while Waugh explores, with nostalgia, the decline of English nobility, its relationship to faith, education, and tradition. Significantly, wealth, for Gatsby, comes from questionable means, and for the Flytes, wealth is inherited and comes with its own obligations. But, of course, wealth ends up destroying them both, and the people they love.

Do these differences reveal the contrasting nature of English and American societies? Or do they simply represent the differing perspectives of their authors on the nature of wealth and status? There’s something of both, clearly, in this. But regardless, both are significant reads.