#R.J. Barker

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

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[signourneybooks]

Warlords of Wyrwood | Book 2 of Forsaken | ARC Review

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway. Book: Warlords of Wyrdwood (Forsaken 2) by R.J. Barker Release Date: September 10th 2024Tags: Fantasy | War | Dark Fantasy | Epic FantasyTrigger/Content Warnings: Violence | Murder | Mentions of Execution | Kidnapping | Mass MurderOther books in this series I reviewed…

[kernelscorner]

Cover Reveal News Round-Up, Including Books By Joe Abercrombie, RJ Barker, J. K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien And TJ Klune

[isvoc]

I recently finished The Tide Child Trilogy by R.J. Barker and well… Keyshans are rising in my sketchbook. Big shout out to TC for gifting me the books because 😭💙

[himboskywalker]

Heyy boo, do you have a book that is not star wars related that you wish you could read for the first time or reread all the time?

I am searching for books recommendations and I am pretty open about every genre, maybe not horror but everything else is totally fine.

My number one book recommendation that I will always obnoxiously shove in everyone’s faces is Lord of the Rings. It is my heart and soul and favorite thing in the world and if you’ve never read the trilogy I highly recommend it. But I also have quite a few other recs!

Anything written by Andy Weir. “The Martian” is his best known work,which they made the Matt Damon movie of,and while I do love it “Project Hail Mary” is my favorite of his and one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time.

I loved “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” which was Christopher Paolini’s sci-fi debut a couple years ago but he just came out with its prequel “Fractal Noise” and I liked it even more.

For some good old fashioned space opera brilliance I recommend the “Final Architecture” trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The last book of the series just came out and I DEVOURED it. Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time,Ruin,and Memory are also phenomenal, you really just can’t go wrong with him.

For more space opera and politics I highly recommend Arkady Martine,she DEBUTED with “Memory Called Empire” which won all sorts of awards. The sequel also recently came out but I haven’t gotten the chance to read it.

I’m in the middle of reading Pierce Brown’s “Red Rising” saga,which I would describe as adult Hunger Games,and have thoroughly enjoying it as well!

For fantasy I love Samantha Shannon’s “Priory of the Orange Tree” and “A Day of Fallen Night”. You’ll get varying opinions of what to read first,I read Priory when it first came out so that’s my biased opinion.

I’m a massive fan of “She Who Became the Sun” by Shelly Parker-Chan and their sequel “He Who Drowned the World” and I want it to go on record I read SWBS when it first came out and before it blew up *flips hair*

R.J. Barker’s “Tide Child” trilogy is awesome,first book of that series is “The Bone Ships.” It’s high seas fantasy with dragon bone ships and epic war and amazing world building.

I always highly recommend “Gideon the Ninth” by Tamsyn Muir and now also the rest of the books in the series. I think the usual pitch is lesbian necromancers in space.

I cannot cannot recommend “The Shadow of the Gods” by John Gwynne enough! It’s quintessential epic fantasy told as a Norse epic and it’s in my top five of modern fantasy books.

While I have serious beef with Song of Achilles just like our fellow obikin Will,I did love and devour Madeline Miller’s “Circe.” In every way I think it’s her superior work.

I can’t recommend fantasy without recommending “The Grace of Kings” by Ken Liu. His entire series will blow your socks off,but the first book won nearly every award for fantasy books that have ever existed.

I’m a huge fan of R.F Kuang’s “The Poppy War” series although I’ve heard this one is a contentious recommendation. I think this series is hate or love it but if for whatever reason you don’t vibe with this series I also highly recommend Kuang’s “Babel.”

If you want something a little less well known I could chew through drywall over Simon Jimenez’s “The Spear Cuts Through Water.” It was in my top five of 2023 release books.

I can also make a separate rec list of less new books and overall classics I always recommend or gift to people,both fiction and nonfiction!

[blueberreads]

24 in 2024

Thanks @logarithmicpanda tagging me!

I only included books I already own because I'm lazy and didn't look into 2024 releases yet :D

1. Sailing by Orion's Star by Katie Crabb

2. The Siren, the Song and the Spy bu Maggie Tokuda-Hall

3. Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig

4. A Clash of Steel by C.B. Lee

5. Longshadow by Olivia Atwater

6. Labyrinth's Heart by M.A. Carrick

7. The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi

8. Defiant by Brandon Sanderson

9. Perception Check by Astrid Knight

10. Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith

11. The Scapegracers by H.A. Clarke

12. When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

13. The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker

14. To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

15. Daughter of Redwinter by E.D. McDonald

16. The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso

17. Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

18. A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

19. The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard

20. Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans

21. The House Witch by Delemhach

22. The Councillor by E.J. Beaton

23. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

24. The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

Tagging @traeumenvonbuechern, @beforeviolets and @starryfox0

[kazz-brekker]

Mid-Year Book Freakout

I was tagged by @libraryleopard, thanks!

Number of books you’ve read so far: 127

Best book you’ve read so far in 2024: The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri (yes this was a 2022 release…let me live)

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2024: I suppose I can't also say The Oleander Sword for this well, but I also really liked Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcette

New release you haven’t read yet but want to: The Daughters' War by Christopher Buehlman (I owned a signed copy from a book event I went to recently)

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: Warlords of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker, also Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan (I read an arc and I very much want to yell about it to other people)

Biggest surprise: Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly (came recommended but was not on my radar until then)

Favorite new author (debut or new to you): Also Rebecca K. Reilly, I'm a fan for life after her debut

Newest fictional crush: Key from Long Live Evil (those who have not met him yet I promise you will understand in August)

Book that made you cry: I don't cry over books (or any media really) but there was a scene of the main character's friends rescuing her in in An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire which made me quite emotional

Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received): I have two really nice editions of Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis and Past Present Future by Rachel Lynn Solomon with lovely sprayed edges

Book that made you happy: When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb made me smile SO much

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?: Too many…but to pick a few, The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah, He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan, Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, and Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman

Tagging: @wizardysseus, @shirleyjacksons, @asalesbian

[thenighttrain]

books read in 2023

finally continuing my yearly tradition. all rated out of 5 stars. bolded are my faves!

The Daughters of Izdihar (The Alamaxa Duology, #1) by Hadeer Elsbai ★★★☆☆

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland ★★★☆☆

Last Violent Call (Secret Shanghai, #3.5) by Chloe Gong ★★★☆☆

The Magician's Daughter by H.G. Parry ★★★★☆

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi, #1) by Shannon Chakraborty ★★★☆☆

The Lies of the Ajungo (Forever Desert, #1) by Moses Ose Utomi ★★★☆☆

The Surviving Sky (Rages, #1) by Kritika H. Rao ★★★☆☆

The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1) by James Islington ★★★☆☆

Immortal Longings (Flesh and False Gods, #1) by Chloe Gong ★★☆☆☆

Gods of the Wyrdwood (Forsaken, #1) by R.J. Barker ★★★☆☆

To Shape a Dragon's Breath (Nampeshiweisit, #1) by Moniquill Blackgoose ★★★☆☆

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros ★★★☆☆

The Third Daughter by Adrienne Tooley ★★★☆☆

After the Dragons by Cynthia Zhang ★★★★☆

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang ★★★★☆

White Trash Warlock (Adam Binder, #1) by David R. Slayton ★★★★☆

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters ★★★☆☆

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones ★★★☆☆

All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown ★★★☆☆

Fury of the Dragon Goddess (Adventures of Sik Aziz #2) ★★★★☆

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang ★★★★☆

My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron ★★★☆☆

Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting (Serwa Boateng, #1) by Roseanne A. Brown ★★★☆☆

Hamra and the Jungle of Memories by Hanna Alkaf ★★★★☆

Bonesmith (House of the Dead, #1) by Nicki Pau Preto ★★★☆☆

Garden of the Cursed (Garden of the Cursed, #1) by Katy Rose Pool ★★★★☆

Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse ★★★☆☆

Don't Want to Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton DNF

The Buried and the Bound (The Buried and the Bound, #1) by Rochelle Hassan ★★★★☆

The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes ★★★☆☆

If Found, Return to Hell by Em X. Liu ★★★☆☆

Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations, #1) by B.B. Alston ★★★★☆

Starter Villain by John Scalzi ★★★★☆

Amari and the Great Game (Supernatural Investigations, #2) by B.B. Alston ★★★☆☆

The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #6) by Rick Riordan ★★★★☆

The Fragile Threads of Power (Threads of Power, #1) by V.E. Schwab ★★★☆☆

The Hexologists (The Hexologists, #1) by Josiah Bancroft ★★★☆☆

Foul Heart Huntsman (Foul Lady Fortune, #2) by Chloe Gong ★★★☆☆

Darkhearts by James L. Sutter ★★☆☆☆

The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros ★★★★☆

Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee ★★★☆☆

The Prince's Poisoned Vow (Infernal War Saga, #1) by Hailey Turner ★★★☆☆

The Emperor's Bone Palace (Infernal War Saga #2) by Hailey Turner ★★★★☆

Beholder by Ryan La Sala ★★★★☆

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle ★★★★☆

The Forest Demands Its Due Kosoko Jackson ★★★☆☆

Reforged by Seth Haddon ★★★☆☆

The Scarlet Alchemist (The Scarlet Alchemist, #1) by Kylie Lee Baker ★★★★☆

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White DNF

The Spirit Glass by Roshani Chokshi ★★★☆☆

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs ★★★☆☆

All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters ★★☆☆☆

Frostheart (Frostheart, #1) by Jamie Littler ★★★★☆

The Vanquishers (The Vanquishers, #1) by Kalynn Bayron ★★★★☆

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller ★★★☆☆

Dark Moon, Shallow Sea (The Gods of Night and Day #1) by David R. Slayton ★★★☆☆

Dark Heir (Dark Rise, #2) by C.S. Pacat ★★★★☆

[briankeene]

2023 Splatterpunk Awards Final Ballot

For Immediate Release Wrath James White and Brian Keene are pleased to announce the final ballot for the 2023 Splatterpunk Awards, honoring superior achievement in the literary subgenres of Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror fiction published in 2022, as well as the sixth recipient of the J.F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award, and the recommendation process for the coming year.

The nominees are as follows:

BEST NOVEL*

-- Playground by Aron Beauregard (Independently Published)

 -- The Television by Edward Lee (Madness Heart Press)

 -- Faces of Beth by Carver Pike (Independently Published)

 -- Last of the Ravagers by Bryan Smith (Thunderstorm Books / Death’s Head Press)

 -- Mastodon by Steve Stred (Black Void Publishing)

 -- Ex-Boogeyman (Slasher vs The Remake) by Kristopher Triana (Bad Dream Books / Thunderstorm Books)

 BEST NOVELLA

 -- Charcoal by Garrett Cook (Clash Books) 

 -- Grandpappy by Patrick C. Harrison III (Independently Published)

 -- Mr. Tilling’s Basement by Edward Lee (Deadite Press)

 -- #thighgap by Chandler Morrison (Cemetery Gates Media)

 -- Plastic Monsters by Daniel J. Volpe (Independently Published)

 BEST SHORT STORY

-- “Just Another Bloodbath at Camp Woe-Be-Gone” by R.J. Benetti (Independently Published)

 -- “Of The Worm” by Ryan Harding (from Splatterpunk Zine issue 13)

 -- “My Chopping List” by Stephen Kozeniewski (from Counting Bodies Like Sheep, The Evil Cookie Publishing)

 -- “Gutted” by Bracken MacLeod (from Splatterpunk Zine issue 13)

 -- “Jinx” by Bridgett Nelson (from A Bouquet of Viscera)

BEST COLLECTION

 -- Always Listen To Her Hurt: Collected Works by Kenzie Jennings (Blistered Siren Press)

 -- Mr. Tilling’s Basement and Other Stories by Edward Lee (Deadite Press)

 -- Horrorsmut by Christine Morgan (The Evil Cookie Publishing)

 -- A Bouquet of Viscera by Bridgett Nelson (Independently Published)

 -- Pornography For the End of the World by Brendan Vidito (Weirdpunk Books)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

 -- Human Monsters edited by Sadie Hartmann and Ashley Sawyers (Dark Matter Ink)

 -- Camp Slasher Lake, Volume 1 edited by D.W. Hitz and Candace Nola (Fedowar Press)

 -- Counting Bodies Like Sheep edited by K. Trap Jones (The Evil Cookie Publishing)

 -- Call Me Hoop edited by SC Mendes & Lucy Leitner, created by Drew Stepek (Blood Bound Books)

 -- Czech Extreme edited by Lisa Lee Tone (Madness Heart Press)

J. F. GONZALEZ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD**

 -- Monica J. O’Rourke

The final ballot is composed of top recommendations from readers, critics, and the general public and then voted on by our panel of six judges. The sixth annual Splatterpunk Awards will take place at KillerCon in Austin, Texas August 12th. For more details, visit here. 

The recommendation process for next year’s ballot is now open to readers, critics, and the general public. Eligible works must be first published in 2023, and must meet the definitions of either Splatterpunk or Extreme Horror. Email recommendations to splatterpunkawards@gmail.com. The recommendation window will close at 11:59pm (EST) on December 31, 2023. THERE WILL BE NO EXTENSIONS. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

With love and respect,

Wrath James White and Brian Keene, Splatterpunk Award cofounders.

* Tie category

** The previous J. F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are David J. Schow, David G. Barnett, Edward Lee, John Skipp, and Clive Barker.

[ulfrsmal]

just finished wake of the bone ships and I'm fucking crying, what a perfect ending yet so bittersweet and charged and 😭❤😭❤😭❤😭❤😭❤😭

R.J. Barker answer for your crimes!!!

[wolfreader]

my best books of 2024

includes every book i gave five stars*, as well as four star books that i thought were particularly exceptional.

*did not include: comic books + manga, which i tend to give five stars in general; a sequel to a book that already made the list; short story collections. honorable mention to an ember in the ashes by sabaa tahir, which just barely missed making the list.

10. after sappho by selby wynn schwartz 🌟🌟🌟🌟

really great fictionalized account of the lives of real-life sapphic writers, artists, et cetera in the early 20th century. if you know anything about the abundance of artistic queer women in paris in the 1920s, you'll recognize a lot of the names in this book.

i really liked the depiction of sappho as a kind of spirit or energy, as something you can become or embody rather than a person who existed. strange as it may seem, given how little we know about the historical sappho that really is how she seems sometimes. i also liked the use of "we" to describe this kind of nameless collective of queer women there in the "action", as it were. idk why but it really effected me. it almost evoked a kind of greek chorus (very fitting, one might say), present for the events of the story but helpless to effect anything, only able to watch and make remarks.

9. gods of the wyrdwood by r.j. barker 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

r.j. barker's previous series, the tide child trilogy, has become one of my favorite fantasy series around, so i was super excited to pick up the first in his new trilogy. and i was not disappointed!

i really liked cahan, the protagonist. he's very haunted, and presents himself as not caring for anyone or anything besides his own survival, but he's truly a deeply caring man and he can't help but want to help other people. i loved his growing father-child relationship with venn. and i really loved venn! i really felt for them and wanted to protect them and i'm excited yet anxious to see what will happen in the sequel (which i own already, but just haven't gotten around to... it kind of makes me nervous lmao).

i really love r.j. barker's worldbuilding. between this and the tide child trilogy he really excells at making a completely alien world and society. i'm really interested in learning more about this word and society little by little, as i did with the world of the tide child trilogy. particularly i'm interested in learning about trion (a societally recognized and seemingly spiritually significant third gender) and what their role is in society.

8. foundryside by robert jackson bennett 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

i've heard about this series for a while but wasn't super interested because i've been told that the magic system is very scientific and that used to not appeal to me. however, since getting into brandon sanderson's works i've learned that this kind of scientific magic can appeal to me it's just that what i've read before wasn't a very good example lmao. also i learned there were lesbians in it.

i really loved this book. sancia was a really fun and funny protagonist, and loved her developing friendship with clef (who i am very worried about. he better come back in shorefall or i'm going to be very upset). as the book progressed and we delved into her backstory i was genuinely very effected. i just want good things for her 🥺 at least she has a girlfriend now.

7. a fragile enchantment by allison saft 🌟🌟🌟🌟

allison saft never misses idk what to tell you. planning on rereading this soon actually because i got my hands on an owlcrate exclusive copy at the secondhand bookstore for like ~$17.

something that i really like about all of allison saft's books is that even when there's some large-scale conflict like a war or civil unrest or something like that, the primary focus is on the relationship between the two protagonists. she writes very emotional stories about the connection between two (at times very messy) people and their internal conflicts and their developing relationships to each other and themselves. and while sometimes they end up saving the kingdom or whatever, usually the larger societal conflict is left unresolved or only somewhat concluded, as it often is in life, and the main resolution is between these two people.

and she writes good romances. while i love a romantic subplot, i'm normally not at all a fan of books where the romance is the primary plot. and while i would say her other books are more even in terms of larger plot and romance, a fragile enchantment is first and foremost a romance. but i didn't mind at all because allison saft makes it work! niamh and kit are really fucking cute. also bi4bi representation.

6. tress of the emerald sea by brandon sanderson 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

if yumi and the nightmare painter didn't hold such a special place in my heart as the book that really made me love brandon sanderson's work, i think tress of the emerald sea would be my favorite of his books.

from what i've read thus far, i think tress + charlie is tied with yumi + painter for sanderson's best romantic subplot. they're so cute it's insane. having read all four of the secret projects currently out, this and yumi are for sure my favorites, and i'm really excited for the extra-secret fifth secret project coming out this year.

5. the ninth rain by jen williams 🌟🌟🌟🌟

i heard a lot of hype about this book before i picked it up, and it did not disappoint.

first of all, two of the three main characters are my favorite types of characters - eccentric older lesbian and sad pathetic wet cat man. then, the romance subplot was unexpectedly good. when the vibes between the two characters in question first began, i was a bit skeptical. i didn't really see them working together. but by the end jen williams had me absolutely hooked on their relationship and i'm really excited to see how it will develop after the events of this first book.

some really interesting worldbuilding elements that i'm curious as to how they'll be explored in the rest of the series as well.

4. the tainted cup by robert jackson bennett 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

in my december monthly wrap-up, i described the dynamic between the two main characters as a combination between that of sherlock holmes + john watson and m. gustave + zero moustafa from the grand budapest hotel. suffice to say, a story that reminds me of one of my favorite classics and one of my favorite movies was bound to captivate me body and soul.

i really loved everything about this book. all that i appreciated about robert jackson bennett's writing from reading foundryside was on full display and more in the tainted cup. the sequel comes out later this year and i couldn't be more excited. i loved this book so much that i'm seriously considering replacing my copy with the uk version because the us hardcover is kind of ugly 😭. it wouldn't be too great a loss, seeing as i luckily got my copy used for less than half price at a local bookstore.

3. the way of kings by brandon sanderson 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

finally gave in to my brother and father who had been recommending that i start this series for a while now. and it was amazing lmao.

i love a feral woman and a pathetic wet cat man, it must be said. and the way of kings had both! something that sanderson excells at is character writing. his writing style is very simple yet very effective, and i think it allows for really gettinng into the minds of his characters moreso than if his prose was purpler.

as always, very interesting and unique fantasy worldbuilding on display. if you know only one thing about the stormlight archive it's probably the crab of it all. it is a very crab-heavy series.

the final book in stormlight's first era released very recently, so the paperback is likely coming out december 2025. i'm planning on catching up with the series by reading oathbringer and rhythm of war between now and december, so i can pick up the paperback as soon as it comes out and finish stormlight era 1 this year.

2. lonely castle in the mirror by tsujimura mizuki 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

this was the first book i read in 2024 - in fact, i read it in the span of a couple of hours directly after midnight on new years eve. without getting into detail i was also really going through it emotionally when i read it, largely relating to school (though that school was american college rather than japanese middle school). partially as a result of that, this book absolutely destroyed me. this book ripped my heart out, threw it on the ground, stomped on it repeatedly, and then spit on it. but then it picked it up, cradled it in its arms, lovingly repaired its wounds, gave it a little kiss, and then put it back in my chest.

also, i must say, i am not an easy crier. i especially don't cry easily at books. but lonely castle in the mirror had me sobbing into my pillow at 5:00 am after finishing it.

1. the warm hands of ghosts by katherine arden 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

tore through this so quickly. i read it at the library, and was initially intended to get myself the paperback when it came out (either this month or next month), but the hardback was half off at barnes and noble and i had holiday + birthday money, so i picked it up <3.

this, like lonely castle in the mirror, is really hard to describe in words. like it's just such a beautifully written and beautifully told story. i got really emotional at certain parts. and it's one of the only books with magical realism that i've truly and thoroughly enjoyed.

the romance is so much more than a romance. like, these two characters are thrown together by pure happenstance, and they go through so much together, and by the end they just need each other in a way that's simultaneously complicated but also pure and simple.

[themoonking]

36, 47, 50 for the book thing

thank u for asking 🥰

36. your absolute most favorite character(s) from any book you've ever read.

uhhhh elrond and also his father earendil from tolkien's legendarium (im also a gimli and legolas enjoyer but e & e take the top spots). d from vampire hunter d. cutter from elfquest (he's literally my pfp). dandelion from the witcher saga so sorry the show did that to you my king. joron twiner from the tide child trilogy.

47. what are the last three books you read?

(from most recent down)

nona the ninth by tamsyn muir. feel like a bad lesbian for not enjoying this series as much as other people do. don't get me wrong i still like it, but its not exactly the type of fantasy i usually go for. i'm gonna buy and read the last book when it comes out, but unless that last one really blows me away idk if im gonna keep the series on my shelf.

the shadow of the gods by john gwynne. enjoyed it! definitely going to continue w/ this series, though i didn't enjoy it enough for it to be a high priority.

the bone ship's wake by r.j. barker. i loved this trilogy!! if you enjoy high fantasy of a similar tone (if not really a similar plot) to stuff like the witcher saga, you'll enjoy the tide child trilogy. when i picked up the first book it took me a little while to get into it, but now its in my top 10 series of all time. had to sit with the ending in silence for like 30 minutes before getting up. don't know what i'm gonna do with my life now that i finished it lmao.

50. what kind of book have you never read but always hope to find at some point in the future?

a few things:

(1) a very classic fairy tale esque knight saves princess full length novel but its lesbians. which im sure does exist out there, i just haven't found it yet.

and (2) an actually good, modern, full novel adaptation of child ballad 39 (ballad of tam lin) bc its like in my top 3 favorite fairy tales / folk tales of all time and all i have for it is fucking court of thorns and roses by that talentless hack sjm. i will find a good one someday even if i have to write it myself.

and maybe (3) sapphic werewolf x vampire romance. once again i'm sure its out there just haven't found it yet.

[artemis2020]

Fall is Here!!!

~ It's that time of the year again when the air becomes thin and brisk while the trees begin to shed their leaves. I have found myself taking deep breaths as I attempt to find the crunchiest leaves to step on.

~ It's nice being back home even though I desperately miss the life I left behind. It's almost as if I lost the game and had to start over from my last save, my last save being my parent's attic. At first, I was worried that I would amount to nothing, that I was destined to work as a lo-key manager for a chain retail store for the rest of my life. However, starting over again from the beginning seemed to change my mind.

~ I want to create something, to make people happy, this is my dream. However, the only way to achieve your dream is to work for it yourself and make it come true. Because of this, I have decided to write down my daily trials and tribulations here, for anyone also starting over in their lives. YOU ARE NOT ALONE:))))))

~ Current Fav Song: "Duvet"- boa/"All American B*tch"- Olivia Rodrigo

~ Current Read: "The Bone Ships"- R.J. Barker

[signourneybooks]

Gods of the Wyrdwood | ARC Review

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.   Book: Gods of the Wyrdwood (Forsaken 1) by R.J. Barker Release Date: June 27th 2023 Tags: Fantasy | Epic Fantasy | High Fantasy | Woods | Wood Magic | Wood Creatures | Magical Creatures | War | Gods Trigger/Content Warnings: Violence | Threats | Murder | Blood Other…

[spaceandsorcerysblog]

GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD (Forsaken #1), by R.J. Barker

I received this novel from Orbit Books, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review: my thanks to both of them for this opportunity. Once again RJ Barker has crafted a unique world that simply asks you to lose yourself in it, and this time around it’s been even easier to do so because the world – or rather its huge living forest – is an intriguingly complex and also dangerous one.  Crua…

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Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker - ARC Review!

The northlands of Crua are locked in eternal winter, but prophecy tells of the chosen child – who will rule in the name of their God, and take warmth back from the South. Cahal du Nahere was raised to be this person: the Cowl-Rai, the saviour. Taken from his parents and prepared for his destiny.   But his time never came.  When he was fifteen he ceased to matter. Another Cowl-Rai had risen,…