#I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABT HESTER NOW

[st-peculiar]

Do you think Aubrey and Hester got to make out while some government building was up in flames behind them or are you a normal red valley fan

[chryzure-archive]

not a ship ask but i’m still very very curious… what’s your fave book you’ve read so far this year? and your least favorite book of this year? any recommendations? :3 (i’ve been back in a slump and it sucks 😭 last book i read was like, september?? of 2022??? i wanna get back into it so bad but it seems like nowadays almost everything is a series and i simply cannot commit to all that right now 💔)

i was saving this ask for last because it’s such a treat to answer asks abt books… like omg, you guys want to hear my dumbass book thoughts??? i’ve got them!!!

i think my favorite book i’ve read this year might’ve been revelator by daryl gregory or horns by joe hill. i started out the year with some good horror novels… but for the more supernatural romance, i have to say that i rlly enjoyed the orphan of cemetery hill by hester fox! ((made a lullaby for witches that more disappointing when i read it… what happened to the great romantic chemistry, hester? what did you do with it? how are you going to fuck up a story about haunting and possession that bad?)

oh god, i read your next question and 💀 i think i already answered, lol, it was a lullaby for witches. it was uninspired the whole way through, which… is shocking, since it’s literally about a witch’s ghost haunting her descendant and slowly possessing her. but it was super shallow and none of the character choices really felt all that interesting. they felt like real people in the most bland way. and the reveals we’re all extremely telegraphed + told to me rather than… revealed, you know? it jst annoyed me that i spent the first fifty pages getting excited for it to get good… and then it kept that plateau of energy the whole time. i rlly didn’t care. it was boring :///

(don’t feel bad about not reading for a bit! series are everywhere and it sucks when i don’t want to get into *gestures vaguely at it* all of that. so i get where you’re coming from. i can rec some good one-offs i’ve enjoyed though!!

like the orphan of cemetery hill by hester fox, as aforementioned—it’s a paranormal romance between a girl that can see ghosts and a high-society boy during the spiritualism craze in boston. to top it all off, there’s been bodies stolen from the cemetery that the girl works at and she’s being tracked down by people that want to study her ability to see ghosts… it’s a vv fun read + the male love interest is literally a flouncing peacock. i cant stand him. i love him.

also, curses by lish mcbride was one i enjoyed last year! it’s a fun reimagining of beauty and the beast, where the main girl got cursed by her mother for not wanting to married off at the age of 14. now that some time’s passed, she decides that she needs to break the curse to make her mom happy, so she hires a boy known for scamming rich people so that she can convince someone to marry her and break the curse. it’s a little sillyridiculous and it’s honestly one of the very, very few batb retelling where i’m like “alright. you’re allowed to have fun <333” :3

i’ve also been reading persuasion by jane austen lately and i mean. i meannnnnn. i’m not far enough to feel i can give a good summary, but it’s jane austen! it’s a fun little time :)