#book review of shadows

[thefatfeministwitch]

Book Review of Shadows: Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling by Paulina Stevens and Jezmina Von Thiele

Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling is a beautifully written guide for anyone wanting to practice the art of divination, but it's so much more. Authors Jezmina and Paulina pull back the curtain, inviting us into their hearts and homes to share a little slice of magic born out of centuries of resilience. 🧿

I cannot overstate how excited I was to read this book-and it did not disappoint! “In Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling, Paulina Stevens and Jezmina Von Thiele introduce the history of the Romani people and their infamous relationship to fortune-telling. They share divination methods, tools, and techniques that have been created, adapted, or popularized by the Roma, including card reading,…

[reyreadersblog]

i'm actually pissed off.

I am sure everyone in grishaverse fandom has seen this negative review of six of crows. If you don't know who i am talking about..

This, i'm talking about this specific review.

(Go watch it if you haven't but know that it the dumbest review ever)

(I couldn't take a better screenshot, *cough* she didn't deserve it *cough*)

At first when she started critisizing the book, i though "woah.." because it's one of my favourite books, but since everyone has different opinions, i decided to watch the video, in order to understand what she disliked about this book.

I don't know why, but i expected logical a explanation from her, mabye because she is a grown ass woman...

and what came out of this woman's mouth actually shocked me💀

First of all "it's a fucking heist for god's sake" and mabye she has sight problems? Because it litearlly says "six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist" on the freaking cover so wtf did she expect?

"Do i look like that's something i would enjoy?" (Keep in mind she read the full summary) let me answer your question with a question, are you dumb? It's a ya book about group of teenagers with a heartbreaking past who go on this dangerous heist, if it is something you know you will not enjoy, then why tf did you read it in the first place?

Oh and uhm..this is her bio

She also said "half of the book was written in different laguage" saying that at your grown age is insane...

A. I understand that it is a little difficult to get into it, especially if you haven't read shadow and bone, and i haven't read it so it was a bit hard to understand certian magic elements in the book, but nothing that a human's brain can't comperhend...

B. Saying those kind of things about a YA book is crazy. I've seen her videos before and she is definitley one of those "i can't read a book if there is no smut" kind of reader, (litearlly her bio) so when you are reading a ya book and you decide to critisize it just because there was no smut in it is EMBARASSING, the book is about literal teens with trauma and you expect them to have sex??? DISGUSTING.

C. Soc has one the best romance subplot(s), oh wait let me spell it: S-U-B-P-L-O-T.

Definition:

And again, if you know you're a an adult romance girlie (with a lot of smut) , why are you reading a ya fantasy book with a HINT of romance in it and then start shitting about it??

Atp it's not even a "negative review" it's an insufferable blabbering.

Six of crows is an amazing duology and mabye next time she shouldn't read a book she know she won't like!?!

Like...go read Credence or any book by Penelope Douglas tbh

And leave ya books alone from this fucking smut for god's sake.

[the-moon-stole-my-heart]

Just finished reading Rule of Wolves and WHAT A ROLLERCOASTER of emotions

Ugh, I just cannot describe the feeling that this series gives me. The connections, certain characters showing up (especially when they mention the “couple who runs the orphanage”), and the plot twists??

Knowing we got to read about 3 years worth of this story, from our beloved Alina starkov, the sun summoner, to the chaotic six of crows, and then have a bit of both, with our ever-charming Nikolai? Be still my heart I’m so invested

Several times I had to set the book down, some bad (when I thought Nina had lost ANOTHER love of her life) and some good (when Zoya FINALLY admitted that she loved Nikolai)

Leigh bardugo, you will always be famous

Also, “get a message to the Crow Club. Tell Kaz Brekker the queen of Ravka has a job for him.” Being the end of the book was INSANE

I just seriously have no words. My mind is reeling, and my stomach is full of butterflies and love. Seriously. This may be one of my favorite books series ever. I could rant for hours and hours about it. Now what am I supposed to do with my life???

[calming-chaos]

[books-and-cookies]

5 SECOND REVIEW

[fruitytea454]

what i want,

I want to be someone who crosses the parapet and lives, and flies over the clouds at Basgiath War College and look down and smile. I want To make the decision that I can’t sit back and watch my country be destroyed.

[just-a-girl-who-likes-sharks]

It has taken me just over 3 months, but I have finally finished my Shadowhunters (re)read!

What an adventure this has been! I had read TMI, TID and TDA already years ago, back when I still read translated books because my English wasn’t good enough yet. I have found since then that I greatly prefer reading in English and this series was no exception.

As far as The Mortal Instruments is concerned, it truly is a product of its time. The story is the best one, the characters… not always as much (looking at you, Clary).

The Infernal Devices will for now and forevermore remain my favourite series. It is the perfect combination of amazing characters and good storytelling.

The Dark Artifices will forevermore come second, the story is good and the characters are good and I will protect Ty Blackthorn until the day that I die.

The Last Hours had by far the BEST characters in any of these books, the story itself was… not the best, but the characters more than made up for it. (Also I will go to WAR for Anna, Matthew and Alastair).

Ghosts of the Shadow Market will forevermore be the best standalone book in this entire franchise. (Also fun fact: the reason this is the only hardcover in my collection is because this is the only book here that I didn’t buy myself. Years ago my best friend and I had a bet and the loser had to buy the winner a book. He bought me a hardcover 😇)

It’s crazy that, after 3 months, it’s done just like that. I will greatly miss this series. And hope I won’t fall into a reading slump afterwards.

[jasper-book-stash]

The good news (for me, at least, because I enjoy complaining) is, witchcraft books I read didn't stay good for long. Let's bitch about Werewolf Pack Magick: A Shapeshifter's Book Of Shadows by Denny Sargent.

This book is meant to be a follow-up book to Werewolf Magick (which I've talked about here) and includes some review of the material of that book, some updated versions of various exercises and rituals/rites, and builds on the content of the first book by expanding it to packs instead of solitary wers. Once you get past chapter 3, it is primarily just a collection of different longform rituals meant to be done by a whole group.

The problem is that it sucks.

There are many, MANY more typos than there were in the previous book, it's far more gendered in its roles than the previous book (even in the language, there was a lot more use of "he or she" rather than "they" like I had read in the previous book), it feels more controlling and strict than the first book did despite the author saying over and over that your pack should change things as needed, and there's the debunked leyline stuff showing up in it.

The author's Greek pagan background is somehow even more blatant in this one than it was in the first, too, which may be a turn-off for those who are not inclined towards Greek paganism for stand-in names.

It feels like the publisher (cough, Llewellyn) had a far stronger hand in the content of this book and made it conform back to the Wicca Lite that Llewellyn Publishing is known for.

You may be wondering, "But Jasper, how bad were the typos?"

There are so many instances where the beginning of a sentence that starts with "werewolf magick" ends up lowercase that I've come to the conclusion that he used a find-and-replace mass-fixer instead of checking to see if things were case sensitive. I found no less than two instances where the author repeated a word right next to itself in the same sentence. There are sentences that just end before the author finishes them, and not in a Tumblr way where the rest of the sentence is the next sentence, no, the word is just GONE. There's missing punctuation, and I don't just mean commas (even though the author goes back and forth on whether or not he uses Oxford Commas in the same fucking paragraph), I mean there are periods or semicolons missing entirely!

That's the thing, Llewellyn should have caught these things, they're the biggest publisher of witchcraft books! The author didn't claim to self-edit (at least, as far as I could find). I have no idea why a publishing gap of 2 years ended with a much worse book than the first one!

There is a difference in the expectations of quality between a blog post written and viewed for free, a blog post written for a paying audience or a self-published book, and a professionally published book through one of the biggest witchcraft publishing houses. This falls in that third category and it is shameful.

6 out of 10. There is some useful stuff in here if you don't mind slogging through the mess. Far from the worst occult book I've read, but I've told multiple people to just skip this one even if they liked the first book.

[literatureaesthetic]

house of flame and shadow ; sarah j maas

this is floating somewhere between a high 3, low 4 stars for me. there was a lot to love and a LOT that could have been (and should have been) executed better. overall, i liked how everything wrapped up and how each character arc was completed. i've always said that 'house of earth and blood' is my favourite sjm novel, and this finale, although nowhere near a perfect conclusion, definitely didn't let the characters or the series down.

saying that, i have issues with the amount of plot conveniences in here. certain scenes felt so ridiculous and out of the bounds of logic that i had to laugh. it was difficult to suspend disbelief at times

nonetheless, i love these characters, and i love this world. this book was pure entertainment; i had so much fun reading and discussing with online friends. is it flawed? absolutely. but it was still a solid conclusion to a series i've been reading and loving for years now!!

[thefatfeministwitch]

Blood Sex Magic by Bri Luna | Book Review of Shadows

An intimate, illustrated collection of spells and stories to infuse our lives with ritual, history, and magic from the visionary artist and infamous witch Bri Luna, founder and creative director of “The Hoodwitch.” Blood Sex Magic is an invitation and an awakening—a guide toward a life of connection to self and spirit, to the seen and unseen realms, and to magical traditions past and future. Bri…

[cardicoven]

🥀Book Review: Persephone's Pathway: Wisdom, Magick & Growth by Jennifer Heather

Full Title: Persephone's Pathway: Wisdom, Magick, Growth Author: Jennifer Heather Published by: Heather Publishing (seemingly self published) 2020 Good Reads: Link My Quick Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) stars. Persephone’s Pathway which while flawed and at times meandering is perhaps the best resource available for the modern pagan worshipping or working with Persephone and I wholly recommend it. Official Blurb: Persephone's Pathway is one of balance and duality; embrace the dual goddess archetype of Underworld Queen and Spring Maiden in order to achieve harmony. This book shares the wisdom of Persephone, along with spells and rituals to help you in your daily life. Shadow work exercises encourage you to work with the Underworld aspect of the Dark Goddess, whilst flower magick celebrates the joy and gentleness of the Spring Goddess. Blend the dark and light aspects together to experience how they shine a light on each other in this celebration of wholeness and authenticity. Personal Reason for Purchasing: Was looking for a pagan/witchy perspective on Persephone and stubbled across this one. (Bought from Amazon UK)

Overview of the book's contents. Introduction: A solid introduction, focusing on what the purpose of this book will be, and the author’s goals in writing it, namely ‘an exploration of the mythology and Symbolism surrounding Persephone, along with chapters dedicated to a facet of what she can teach us’, ‘both a collection of information and tribute to her’. Chapter 1: 'Who is Persephone': Introduction to Persephone, her role, dual nature, The Eleusinian mysteries, possible connections to Erishkegal (a mesopotamia goddess originating 4000 BC), and of course the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Chapter 2: 'Historic Origins': An exploration of the genesis of Persephone in Mythology, through to the Evolution of her story in present day literature. (A personal highlight). Chapter 3: 'A Myth Retold': A modern retelling of the hymn to Demeter by the author. Chapter 4: 'Symbolism': An exploration of the artefacts associated with Persephone, both modern and ancient, the creation of a unique glyph/sigil for Persephone and an extensive and detailed discussion of association/correspondences, some ancient, some contemporary and lastly her common epithets. Chapter 5: 'Creating an Altar': A collection of suggestions and guidelines on creating your own altar for Persephone and common offerings to gift the Goddess. Chapter 6: 'Persephone Magick: Begins with a basic beginners to magickal practice, followed by a recipe for a Persephone Anointing oils, a guide to connecting to Persephone, an innovation and an adaption of the Orphic Hymn to Proserpina.

The Seeds of Persephone A collection of chapters surrounding what the Author considers to be the six core aspects/values which Persephone embodies. Seed 1: 'Union': Focuses on Shadow-work, divine alignment for body and Spirit union, and includes a spell for Spiritual union of lovers, guidance surrounding meditation, shadow-work rituals, and a recipe for a love attraction oil. Seed 2: 'Balance': Begins with a discussion of how to, and the importance of maintaining balance in one’s life, including a meandering discussion of grounding, living with the seasons, incorporating nature into your life, meditation, seasonal altars, self-care, massage, and yoga. Lastly it includes recipes for a Persephone Beauty Elixer’ cream/lotion, a medicinal tonic, a spell for resolution, and a spell for making a decision. Seed 3: 'Intuition': Looks at ways to develop one’s intuition, including an outline for a Persephone focused Lithomancy technique (10 planetary stones, 6 Persephone stones (named for each of the author’s ‘Seeds’: Fertility, Justice, Balance, Union, Sovereignty and Intuition), three tarot spreads and the script for a guided meditation. Seed 4: 'Sovereignty': Is a discussion of [personal Sovereignty, and self-esteem, with journal prompts. Guidance on enchanting a power talisman, and a spell for protecting personal boundaries. Seed 5: 'Justice': Focuses heavily on Persephone in her Queen of the Underworld Aspect, touching on several myths in which she acted as a Purveyor of justice, (Orpheus and Psyche, and a discussion on Trust in regards to the Goddess. Followed by Several spells for truth telling, reflection on behaviour and fair resolutions. Seed 6: 'Fertility': Focuses on Persephone's Spring/Maiden Aspect. Followed by a discussion of Maiden goddesses, Flower Magick, creating Floral elixirs, cleansing sprays, a flower bathing ritual, and spell jars/Witch’s bottles. Followed by the Associations/correspondences and finally a script of a guided meditation, to meet Persephone in her Spring Aspect. Appendix: The Orphic hymn to Proserpina, translated by Taylor Thomas 1792.

Personal Thoughts and Review. I’m conflicted about this book. The first half is an excellent primer on Persephone and including her into one’s personal practice however, the second half the ‘Seeds of Persephone’ are at times Meandering, unfocused and clumsy, but there are jewels among the ramblings.

The book appears to be self published, so I’m inclined to be kinder to the Author than I would otherwise be; however, Persephone’s Pathway could really use reformatting (text justified etc), and would benefit immensely from an informed and passionate editor. Nevertheless this book is an excellent edition to the libraries of those of us who work with Persephone.

Aspects in detail. General content: The first half goes over a lot of content around Persephone, in some detail and is appropriately referenced through allowing the reader to research further. The Second half (the Seeds) is a mixed bag and approaches certain subjects extremely casually, namely Shadow-work and herbal medicine. Persephone’s correspondences: Primarily contained to Chapter 4, the Correspondences are in depth, reference and diverse. However, there are inaccuracies, the most obvious is a mention of Corn/Maize being cut as a part of the Eleusinian Mysteries. As a New World crop Corn was not in ancient Greece at the time and as such has no historical connection to the Mysteries. From my own understanding the crop cut during the Mysteries was likely Barley, a grain though to have great significance to the Eleusinian Mysteries as a part of the hallucinogenic cocktail thought to be drunk by initiates, barley is also part of the offering given by Oddyseus to summon Persephone (“first with milk and honey, then with sweet wine, then with water; and sprinkle white barley-meal above”). Rituals and Spells: It’s Always interesting to see another practitioner's approach, and covering a very broad scope although, I wish they were indexed since they appear throughout the book. Origin Myth retelling: An interesting retelling, possibly my favourite version, however it is not without flaws. Guided Meditations: Enjoyable and Interesting, these scripts approach many aspects of Persephone’s Mythos. Journaling Prompts: These appear seemingly at random in the latter half of the book, but are nevertheless thought provoking. Recommended Reading: While good to see, it is worthy of note that none of these books reference Persephone, Hellenic Polytheism, or Shadow-work. Which are the topics I would like to see additional material given some of my concerns with the book itself. Bibliography: Extensive and good practice.

The Seeds in Detail. Given their significance to the book I’ll review these chapters separately: Union: a clumsy chapter whose advice on Shadow-work is surface level and possibly dangerous for a beginner or someone who is mentally vulnerable. But this chapter does handle the topic of Love workings with the required levity. Balance: Waffling and honestly feels like filler, of the seeds this one is disappointing and feels like lost potential. Intuition: a major highlight of the book, a detailed exploration of Lithomancy, well written and thought provoking. Sovereignty: A good chapter, if a little long winded. Justice: Spectacular, discussion of Queen Persephone and of how to connect to the Underworld Aspect. A personal highlight. Fertility: An excellent close to the book but desperately needs reformatting.

Final Thoughts. I wholly recommend this book especially as a gateway into working with or worshipping Persephone. Despite its flaws, it is the best resource I’ve found on Persephone from a pagan/witch perspective, and my practice is better for reading it.

[sirwhiplash]

Just finished reading Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and before I start Crooked Kingdom I just had to share my theme songs (Spotify links for all!) for each of the characters and their ships. I cannot WAIT to draw them.

I did read Six of Crows before any of the Shadow and Bone. Was this a mistake? (Spoiler free answers only please xoxo)

I also have not seen the Shadow and Bone show on Netflix. Honestly, not expecting much.

Kaz: Blood on my Name by The Brothers Bright

Ineg: Buy the Stars by Marina and the Diamonds

Kaz x Ineg: Devil’s Backbone by The Civil Wars

Jesper: Can I Get a Witness by SonReal

Wylan: Moth Wings by Passion Pit

Jesper x Wylan: Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers, Coldplay

Nina: Are You Satisfied by MARINA or Missile by Dorothy (*SPOILER* when she takes the jurda parem)

Matthias: Iron by Woodkid

Nina x Matthias: I Found by Amber Run

Bonus: The Ketterdam theme song is Short Change Hero by The Heavy. If there’s ever a Six of Crows show I hope it opens to Kaz walking down the streets of Ketterdam with that song.

[andreai04]

I paused as the weight of what he was saying sank in. "Then—you haven't the slightest idea how to rule a kingdom."

"Does anyone?" He took my hand, discomfort shifting suddenly into earnestness. "We will learn together."

"Oh God," I said faintly.

“Can you understand the feeling of a winter night, or a spring wind, if you have only read about it?"

It was a strange thing. I had been viewing the marriage question with such trepidation—the ceremony, the spectacle, all that came after it, in the form of this strange and beautiful kingdom that would thence be half mine. And yet, as I sat there upon the lake amidst the tree-shadow and reflected light and the dragonflies tussling with the wind, I no longer knew why I had been so afraid. Likely it was also the threat of Queen Arna hanging over us like a guillotine—well, the prospect of imminent death tends to put things into perspective. It was not that my worries vanished—no magic could manage that. I only realized how much smaller they were than the world that lay before me. A world that I wanted, even after all I had seen, and amidst such a thicket of danger. I wanted it very much. And I especially wanted to share it with Wendell.

“…what need has one for power, nor for anything besides the wind, so clear and sweet-smelling, and the green earth beneath one's feet?"

[annafromuni]

Deborah Harkness' Lush Adult Fantasy World Expands With The Black Bird Oracle

And the wonder continues within the All Souls universe. Deborah Harkness’ The Black Bird Oracle is the fifth instalment in the All Souls Series, following the events of the original three books A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life, and we cannot forget about Time’s Convert. With so much more to discover and witness within this expansive, detailed, and enticing world, The…

[very-serious-book-reviews]

Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling

Did I like it: YES

Did I understand what was going on: Not always but I had fun and that’s what matters

I knew this series has a gay romance (that’s why I’m here tbqh) but that doesn’t mean I expected one of the main characters to dress as (by all accounts) a very pretty woman within the first third of the book

This book is older than me but overall I feel like it could’ve been written pretty recently honestly, not too much jumped out at me as “didn’t age well”

Also! Society that only has queens, but makes sense about it and doesn’t just do it because That’s Different, my beloved

(Now to see if I can find the rest of the series literally anywhere 😅)

[books-and-cookies]

5 SECOND REVIEW