#Romina Garber

[leer-reading-lire]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || October || 14 || Orange Black with Orange books

[bookaddict24-7]

(New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (July 30th, 2024)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Releases:

The Skin I'm In by Steph Tisdell

Eighteen Roses by Shannon C.F. Rogers

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber

Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith

The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford

The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus

Finding Famous by Candice Jalili

New Sequels:

The Mirror of Beasts (Silver in the Bone #2) by Alexandra Bracken

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Happy reading!

[the-lady-writes-what]

A very long time ago, I received a lovely DM from @marziemoo when they asked about what are some recommendations for wlw/sapphic books about or written by authors of color. I apologize that it has taken me so long.

Allow me first to give some caveats:

I am very, very, very white. I am NOT a person of color. Please take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I take FOREVER to read books so, the ones I have read is small list but I have included ones that I researched and ones that have been on my To Read List for a while.

I tend to read mostly fantasy, so this list will comprise mostly of fantasy because that is what I read. I'll try to diversify with other genres. Everything except "The Jasmine Throne" I have not yet read.

Tasha Suri is a South Asian author whose work "The Jasmine Throne" depicts the story of an imprisoned princess and a priestess who hides from her past. It's passionate and powerful.

Warning: this book does depict or implicate harsher subjects and themes such as sexism, human sacrifice, and contains violence.

Kalynn Bayron, a black author. "Cinderella is Dead" tells the story of Sophia, who is forced with other girls to be forced into marriage two hundred years after Cinderella and her tale died. Sophia is joined with Constance, the last descendent of Cinderella and her step-sisters, to bring down the king. I haven't read this one yet, but it sits on my giant pile of To Read stack

This book by Leah Johnson tells the story of Liz Lighty, a midwest black girl. She's hoping to find financial aid so she can attend the college of her dreams. In order to do that, she has to become prom queen. Along comes Mack, the new girl, who is also vying for the prom queen crown. Sounds like rivals-to-lovers to me? I don't really read contemporary fiction, but the story premise is cute.

In Chinelo Okparanta's book, Ijeoma grows up as her nation gains independence and by the time she's 11, civil war breaks out. Ijeoma is sent away to safety where she comes across another displaced child. Friendship blooms and becomes a star-crossed romance. Again, I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction, but I might had this one to my reading list myself.

With the world's survival at stake, two teenagers are selected to journey to the Fairy Queen to fix it. Kaede and Taisin are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. This is a prequel to Malinda Lo's series, Ash.

Originally published in 1995, LarissaLai weaves a story in and out of medieval China to contemporary Vancouver. The book follows a thousand year old fox spirit, a 9th century Taoist poet and nun, and a young Asian-American named Artemis.

Makeda Hicks just lost her job and girlfriend in one fell swoop. She doesn't want to hear stories from her grandmother about her whirlwind affairs with royals and agents. So when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, Makeda can't resist. Only one bed and fake marriage hijinks insues!

Lei, in Natasha Ngan's book, Girls of Paper and Fire, lives with her father years after her mother is taken by the royal guards and disappeared. Now, they've come for Lei, whose rumored beauty has intrigued the king. Lei enters the opulent yet oppressive palace to train with eight other young women to please the king. A forbidden romance begins with Lei and she begins to question how far she would go for revenge.

In Tehlor Kay Mejia's premiere novel, 'We Set the Dark on Fire,' writes a compelling story that mirrors real world issues of immigration and equality. Daniela Vargas is the top student at Medio School for Girls. As a top student, upon graduation her paths are limited, run a husband's household or raise his children. Will Daniela chose the life of privilege her parents fought for or will she join the resistance to bring true freedom to Medio, and perhaps forbidden love?

Seventeen year old Lil and her twin sister, Kizzy are captured and taken away from their traveler community. Forced to work in the kitchens, Lil is drawn to another slave, Mira. Lil and the others discover and fight for a fate of their own making. (Through some research, I discovered that the author, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, is of Indian descent through her mother and lives in Oxford.)

Yetu remembers everything. She remembers the people who came before her, the pregnant African women thrown overboard by their enslavers. In order to escape this burden and the memories, Yetu travels to the surface to discover her past and a future for her people.

Manuela Azul lives a confined life in a small Florida apartment hiding from both her father's crime family in Argentina and ICE. On the run, she discovers a world within our own and one which Manuela discovers something about herself that could rock her world.

This Hugo award-winning novel by S.L. Huang, is a retelling of the Western fairy tale classic, Little Red Riding Hood. Only this time, Red Riding Hood is done with wolves and forests. Combing fairy tale nostalgia and Chinese folklore, the main characters, Rosa, Red Riding Hood, and Hou Yi the Archer join forces and set forth on a quest to stop the deadly sunbirds from destroying everything they hold dear.

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Castle of the Cursed

Author: Romina Garber

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2024

Genres: fiction, fantasy, horror, gothic, romance, paranormal, mystery

Blurb: After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor's guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra. Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbours a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents' deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebasti��n is a hallucination, but he claims he's been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers...and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress. As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying, and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra's secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she's chasing has already found her...and they're closer than she ever realised.

[girlzoot]

A pride like I’ve never felt before fills my chest, and I’m both surprised and embarrassed by my reaction to their praise. It shouldn’t matter, and I shouldn’t need the validation, and yet I can’t deny it feels good to be admired for something I have some semblance of control over. —Romina Garber/Cazadora

[just0nemorepage]

Lobizona || Romina Garber || Wolves of No World #1 || 400 pages Top 3 Genres: Fantasy / Young Adult / Magical Realism

Synopsis: Some people ARE illegal.

Lobizonas do NOT exist.

Both of these statements are false.

Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented immigrant who's on the run from her father's Argentine crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida.

Until Manu's protective bubble is shattered.

Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past--a mysterious "Z" emblem—which leads her to a secret world buried within our own. A world connected to her dead father and his criminal past. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong.

As Manu uncovers her own story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina, she learns it's not just her U.S. residency that's illegal. . . .it's her entire existence.

Publication Date: August 2020. / Average Rating: 4.12. / Number of Ratings: ~8010.

[thecolorsinouruniverse]

plant your new garden with the seeds of equality, water it with tolerance and empathy, and warm it with the temperate heat of truth

romina garber, lobizona

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Lobizona: A Novel

By Romina Garber.

Design by Kerri Resnick.

[womanoncesaid]

Now go forth and shatter every convention. Romina Garber, Lobizona

[therubyreader]

Book Bites: Volume 2

Hello everyone, happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all are having a good holiday with your loved ones!  

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels - India Holton ☆☆☆☆☆ 

I feel like the fact that I not only found but really enjoyed this book is surprising to no one given the premise, 19th century female pirates who commit their crimes from flying houses along with a fun love story, sounds like something written specifically with me in mind. The book follows Cecelia Bassingthwaite, the niece of a prominent member of the Wisteria Society, a league of lady pirates, vying for a seat at the table who gets caught up in a scheme that sees her aunt kidnapped and forms an unlikely alliance with a male pirate who has been ordered to kill her. I absolutely loved this book, the writing style is so creative, a mix of Victorian tone with modern humor, the characters are super interesting, and the satirical use of Victorian etiquette among a group of criminals was super fun to read. The chapter titles were also super creative and funny, if you skim through them then you’re bound to miss some great jokes. Despite its surface level silliness, the book deals with serious topics like grief, love, and the role of women in society in ways that directly add to the story and characters. I absolutely loved reading it and recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Bridgerton and loves fantasy.  

Castle of the Cursed - Romina Garber ☆☆★★★ 

When I came across this book so many months ago, I was super excited to read it as the premise is super interesting, our main character Estela loses her parents in a tragic accident and ends up finding out she has family in Spain who live in a creepy castle where she finds a boy with silver eyes that only she can see, but unfortunately the book fell flat. I absolutely loved the beginning especially with how good of a job the author did portraying mental health issues, but right around the middle of the book it turned into a completely different story, and it was so sudden and jarring that I stopped enjoying it. Right in the middle a magic system and multiple alternate dimensions were introduced with a basis in absolutely nothing before this point and the ending was extremely anticlimactic. If the book just stayed grounded in gothic magical realism, I would’ve enjoyed it so much more than whatever it was that the book turned into. I will give it two stars for the first half, the rest is just not worth it.  

Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead ☆☆☆☆★ 

Though I read these books before, it’s been well over ten years since I’ve picked this up, so I essentially was reading this as it was for the first time, mostly, I still remembered some of the major plot points. This book follows Rose Hathaway, a dhampir, half human half vampire hybrid, protectors of the mortal vampires who can use earth’s magic, called moroi, and her best friend Lissa Dragomir, a moroi princess, who after two years of running away from their vampire boarding school are caught and sent back causing them to experience more trouble than they had bargained for. I watched the movie version of this a couple of weeks ago with a friend and the movie is very much a product of its time so I was worried the book would be too, luckily, I was wrong and besides the lack of smartphones and the fashion choices, it still holds up pretty well. Even with reading a book meant for teens with my adult eyes it still holds up and I enjoyed it almost as much as I did when I first read it back in middle school. Though, if memory serves right, this is the tamest of the books but a solid introduction to the world and the plot thread that goes through the whole series. I did knock a star off for aforementioned tameness and also because as a 24-year-old, reading Dimitri falling in love with a 17-year-old Rose was extra gross and I really could not imagine doing the same. I am going to keep reading this series though as its fun nostalgia and I was glad my middle school fondness for the series wasn’t misplaced.   

[between-the-pages657]

Girl, you’ve known him for what? Two weeks? There’s no way you love him.

[kingaustronaut]

I need other people to talk about the Zodiac series by Romina Russel with because I ADORE it so much.

[blogthefiresidechats]

Latest haul today...

I had to get out and run a couple of errands today on my day off from work. While I was out, I stopped by my local book store and ended up getting some new books. I knew this would happen after I added another bookcase for my library. I did end up picking up some books that were on my list and found at least one that wasn’t on my list.

[msbibliophage]

I was surprised this was available as the ebook had a long wait list but you bet I snatched it up before someone else did. I have been waiting for what feels like ages for this.

[tanyasreading]

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber

[girlzoot]

I don’t care if I’m deported, or if my dad’s family finds me, or if the whole world discovers I’m a freak. I just want my ma. —Romina Garber/Lobizona