#first book review

[reviewsbywolfie]

OMG THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! Stephanie, you are one amazing author!

For anyone who doesn’t know, this book resembles around two sisters who live with a very cruel, abusive, jackass, arrogant, snob, and murderous father. When given the opportunity to escape to a place known as Caraval, the sisters don’t waste a second to go.

As the story goes further, I see a lot of depth in this story that I wish my own book had. Stephanie holds a lot of twists and turns along the way as she sweeps the reader into the world of Caraval. At some point, there will be a time where you think the story is over but believe me, you’re only at the beginning. There are characters you love and characters you hate. Trust me, once you pick this book up, you’ll never wanna put it down.

My favorite character so far would definitely have to be Tella (short for Donatella). She’s fearless, strong, brave, and very clever. I won’t spoil the plot so much because I like my viewers to be surprised, but I will say that she’s very important. I hope I get to see her more in book 2.

Upon further information from my roommate who lent me this book, this book is actually the beginning of a trilogy. I plan to read the last two of the books after I’ve read ‘The Night Circus’ and ‘A Soul of Ash and Blood’.

That’s all of Wolfie’s thoughts so far. If you’d like to know the name of the second book it’s called ‘Legendary’. I’ll let you know in my next review what the 3rd and final book is called. Be sure to look for Stephanie Garber on Amazon or at any bookstore.

Until next time, stay on track and stay in the pack 🐺

[readthebookfirstpodcast]

[captainbrookeworm]

Just finished reading “Sorcery and Small Magics” by Maiga Doocy and it’s having me rethink my whole taste in books because I thought I hated romantasy but apparently if you give me a disaster gay with a true slowburn rivals to allies to maybe-friends to possibly-one-day-lovers arc with his forced proximity outwardly put-together bf I will eat it the fuck up

Leovander Loveage my beloved????

Medium stakes that is comfy but still has an engaging plot that can be intense when it needs to be my beloved????

Cool and interesting world-building that’s well-integrated into the story my beloved????

Did I mention Leovander Loveage my beloved???? Because I love him dearly.

Apparently this book came out like a month ago and there’s no fandom for it yet which is a crime against me personally. I cannot be the only one out here fighting for my life waiting for book 2.

[herunseenworlds]

1st quarter readings:

Futuristic violence and fancy suits by Jason Pargin - Insane ideas, interesting characters, violence and funny.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - A sci-fi classic that is not my favorite.

The first cate in space ate pizza by Mac Barnett - Short and fun reading for a rainy afternoon.

Parable of the sower by Octavia Butler - An eerie fiction too close to reality. Everyone must read!

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor - Great flow, lovely character, just a bit too naive ending.

Wool by Hugh Howey - Loved every single chapter of this book.

Starter villain by John Scalzi - Cats that can communicate with humans, interesting twists and funny scenes.

The dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin - A bit slow, but then it hooks you and when you understand the title your brain explodes.

Merlin’s tour of the universe by Neil deGrasse Tyson - I like the idea of questions and answers but the selection could be better.

Have you read any of these?

[asexualbookbird]

CURRENTLY READING MAY 2025

After the Forest by Kell Woods

I was wrong when I said Voyage of the Damned was my first IC book. It was actually After the Forest. While this isn't something I'd pick up on my own, it does sound interesting and I'm excited to finally read it!

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Favorite Books I Read in 2024

I read a ton of good novels last year- 32 in all (and uh, 82 manga/graphic novels, but we’ll examine that in another post). Here’s a link to my Goodreads year in books (the manga is at the beginning, the novels start with Red, White & Royal Blue) and my storygraph wrap up.  

Read my posts on my favorite anime of 2024 here and on my favorite manga/graphic novels of 2024 here.

I got to have fun reading some classics like The Odyssey and The Wizard of Oz, but I also read a lot of notable newer books! Let's take a look!

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

The story follows Silas, a trans guy in an alternate 1883 where violet-eyed people have the power to talk to spirits. If someone is perceived as a man by society, this power is treated as useful. But for anyone society perceives as a woman, it's a different story. There's this idea that the power to speak to the dead causes women to "go mad". Silas is diagnosed with this "sickness" and gets thrown in a horrible sanatorium that forces patients to become obedient wives. But this school has some dark things going on under the surface, and Silas might not even make it out of this alive...

This is a horror that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way though. The setting is vivid and creative, the characters who suffer under the weight of oppression are varied and complex, and the protagonist is easy to root for. It's very spooky, pretty relentless, pretty gory and pretty twisty. It's very hard to figure out who you can actually trust! It's also a fascinating exploration of transphobia and misogyny. It obviously draws on real things women and trans people struggled with in the 1800s (accusations of having "hysteria" and other "illnesses" just for existing) but also talks about ableism too, as the main character is autistic. It really makes you consider how terrifying and isolating it would be to live in a time with so few resources and such limited knowledge, but of course, this still persists in a lot of places today.

 It's not all horror though, there is some catharsis and nice moments of Silas finding solace and support in other trans people and it leads to some really touching scenes and relationships. There's also satisfaction in seeing marginalized people banding together and doing all they can to fight back.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries and Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

This fantasy series follows Emily, a professor and dedicated researcher of the mysterious and often dangerous fae. Emily is out to make an encyclopedia of fae lore, and she has no interest in socializing with others when there's faeries to find. Unfortunately for her, her scholarly rival, Wendell, show up and decides to be all insufferably social and charming and interested in her. He might secretly be a faerie though, and Emily is interested in that, so, ugh, maybe she has to put up with him.

 These books are a ton of fun. It's a cozy adventure the creatively draws on some cool fae lore. It's biggest charm is our protagonist, who is wonderfully grumpy and stubborn and clever and only wants to bury herself in researching this thing she likes She's the kind of person who puts footnotes in their own journal, and it's delightful.

Even when she starts catching feelings for Wendell, her research is always her number one priority. And Wendell, who is very obviously smitten with her the second he appears, is okay with that! In fact, her stubbornness and fearless, unshakeable commitment to her research is pretty much exactly why Wendell is so down bad for her, which makes him a really relatable love interest. He's obnoxious in a genuinely charming way and the teasing banter between Wendell and Emily is very entertaining.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

Kokoro has been unable to go outside her house ever since she dropped out of school due to horrible bullying. One day, her mirror glows, and she enters it to find herself in a castle with six other students. A little girl in a wolf mask tells all of them that there's a room in the castle that can grant one single wish, but only for one person, so whoever finds the room first gets the wish. They'll have an opportunity to hang out in the castle every day until the deadline, after which the castle will disappear. But as the kids get to know each other, things get more complicated.

This is such a lovely, healing story I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. While the story goes into the causes behind the epidemic of hikikomori and futoku in Japanese students, it's also a universally relatable story about the ways bullying, grief and trauma can affect a child and lead to severe anxiety. Kokoro's slow journey of recovery is touching and feels realistic, despite the fantastical elements. The book shows how brave and hard it is to take these small steps, and how Kokoro struggles to even talk about what happened. The focus of the book is the connections the kids make with each other. It explores the secrets they carry, how they accidentally hurt each other, but also how they ultimately are able to empathize with and support each other. Each character is interesting and achingly human in their own right. The whimsical fairy tale elements of the story complement the themes well, and the book delivers some really solid plot twists that serve to make its themes stronger too.

One thing to warn for is we learn that a fourteen year old girl has entered a relationship with a man in his 20s. This isn't shown to be healthy or good for her though, and the reason she does this is heartbreaking. There's also some (non graphic) attempted SA. With that in mind, this is just a really cool tale, and I full recommend it!

First Light by Liz Kerin

This is the second part of a duology that began with Night’s Edge, which I recommended last year, and honestly, this book is even better than the first one, which was already pretty great. The book continues to use vampirism to explore the cycle of abuse effectively. This time, Mia is seeking vengeance on her mother's abusive ex-boyfriend, who was responsible for turning her Mom into a vampire. But when she finds the ex-boyfriend and infiltrates his little cult (with her kinda-girlfriend, who actually genuinely wants to join), she gets manipulated by him the way her mother did, her trauma and past making it easy to fall into a cycle that's familiar. She starts to understand her mother, and vampires in general, more than she ever thought she would. It's just a really interesting take on vampires, and this one actually addressed some of the thing I thought were a little iffy in the first book. It's dark, but there's also a lot of catharsis.

I think these books are easily among the top of my list of favorite vampire media. Content warning for abuse, and the vampire bites having a hint of a metaphor for sexual violence like they often do.

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

 Bright Young Women follows a young woman in the aftermath of a serial killer breaking into her sorority and killing several of her friends. The media and police are all too willing to question her testimony and distort the details to fit their narrative. Another woman suspects her girlfriend was murdered by the same killer, and they team up to find the truth.

Bright Young Women is a page-turner, and I honestly didn't realize it was so heavily based on the Ted Bundy murders until I read the reviews, because I didn't know much about him (or most real life serial killers, a fact which I am very okay with). But the book is here to dunk on Ted Bundy and the ways his "intelligence and charisma" were greatly exaggerated by the media and even the judge at his actual trial, rage about the ways the victims stories are erased in favor of the killers who are glamorized and fawned over, point out the ways the police constantly fail victims, and to set the record straight to those who idolize serial killers.

The story centers the survivors and victims, talking about their lives and triumphs and the goals they were working toward and what could have been. It's depressing, but it also shines the light on the bravery of the women whose testimonies got the killer convicted even when the rest of the world was dismissive of them.

This book is a really tough read, and obviously there's a huge content warning for sexual violence, the graphic aftermath of horrific deaths...the method of one rape and murder actually really disturbed me (mentioned in the aftermath, the book never shows the actual acts), it was so gross and horrible (and unfortunately, happened in real life). Read with caution. But it's a book that will definitely stick with me for a while.

The Rise of Kyoshi and the Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

I never got around to the Kyoshi novels because there's been a lot of mediocre Avatar the Last Airbender spin-off media...but I should not have hesitated, because these were actually really good. They follow the life of Kyoshi, the famously badass Earth Kingdom Avatar, and shows how she became how she is.

Yee does a great job capturing the world of Avatar, while also expanding on it in interesting ways. I really liked a lot of the little details that deepened the world--for instance, it's mentioned that Firebenders shave their heads when they lose an Agni Kai because of the disgrace, which gives context to Zuko's initial hairstyle and actually makes the fact he actively kept his hair from growing back for three years extremely sad, since it implies he thought he would only be worthy of that once his father approved of him again. It was something I think Yee definitely came up with himself, but it made a lot of sense with the show in a way that felt natural.

The novels were definitely darker than the show, but not in a Netflix Avatar let's-watch-a-bunch-of-people-we-don't-care-about-burn-to-death way, but in a way that felt natural to Kyoshi's circumstances. I found I usually did care a lot when a character died because they were often likeable. I found the death of one character in particular near the end of book one genuinely heartbreaking.

The books did a good job explaining why Kyoshi became more severe later on, and in how she wrestles with how far she can go with her role as the Avatar, what justice is, and whether killing people solves anything. The second book was not quite as good as the first, with its decision to switch out the cast of the characters for entirely new people and just being more meandering in general, but it was still a good read. I definitely rec if you're an Avatar fan, odds are you'll really enjoy them!

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

In the country of Concordia, each province has one heir who has a "Blessing"--basically a unique magic power. Ganymedes (a.k.a Dee)'s dad cheated on his wife a bunch, and one of the children from those affairs must have inherited the Blessing rather than Dee. To keep this a secret, Dee's dad makes him pretend to have a Blessing. Now Dee has to go on a voyage with the other Blessed and, sick of the charade, he's decided he's going to make them all hate him so he gets kicked out of the group. But that plan is extremely interrupted when his shipmates start getting murdered one by one.

Voyage of Damned is just a really good time. A queer murder mystery romp with a ton of suspicious and varied characters vying for power, a fun lead with a distinctive voice, tragic romance, cute friendships, and even some touching exploration of prejudice, suicidal ideation and self loathing. It was just extremely readable and I was entertained the whole way though, but it also made me feel things sometimes. It also delivered a ton of solid plot twists, including a big and satisfying one that made me want to go back and read through a bunch of scenes knowing the truth (and I did).

Dee and his distinctive glib narration probably won't be for everyone but I liked him and vibed with him. He goes through a lot, including finding out his boyfriend he'd been separated from for five years is now engaged to a girl and acting super cold to him. The tension between Dee and Ravi and how it affects all his relationships is a real emotional hook, and his banter and dynamics with the people he likes (or even some people he doesn't) are generally fun to read. If all I've said sounds cool to you, give it a try, you might like it!

Bonus Rec: Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

Shesheshen is a blob monster who dines on the humans (mostly those who try to kill her). She can look human with some effort, and go into town to feed sometimes. But the she falls in love with a kind woman named Homily. This clearly means she needs to do the proper romantic thing and lay some eggs in Homily so their little monster kids can be born by devouring Homily for the inside out. Wait, humans aren't into that? That's awkward. And despite her biological impulse she doesn't really want Homily to die? Even more awkward. Oh, and Homily's family are monster hunters and it turns out that was Homily's brother Shesheshen ate a while back? Super mega awkward. What's a monster to do...

 I'm a lover of actually monstrous monster women, so I was hyped for this one, especially with the great cover by @jmfenner91! While it disappointed me in some areas, it was still fun and heartwarming enough I'd recommend it.

Our monster lady is a great character, and her unique point of view where she's nonchalant, cynical and often hilariously baffled by humans is a joy to read. Her personality, her super gross biology, and how she sees the world...she's so charming and her romance with Homily is very cute. I also really like that the book focused on healing from abuse and finding a way to move forward with each other's support. I also liked the romantic climax, and the discussion of finding kissing weird, because that made me feel seen.

There were quite a few things that kept it from being a five star review in my heart though--Sheshesen is completely disconnected from people, has just spent her life alone in her cave, but she knows what an abuser is and exactly how abusive people operate in a weirdly modern way. Abusers are also only portrayed one way: openly cruel and evil with zero sympathetic qualities to every single person they interact with. There is no cycle of abuse with these people, they never act nice to to draw their victims back in, we don't see more subtle, manipulative emotional abuse, almost no claims of caring about people. Obviously cartoonishly abusive rich people exist in real life, and I don't necessarily need abusers to be humanized. Still...it just felt like the nuance of most real life abuse was being ignored. And because these people were so one dimensional, it was pretty tedious to spend SO much time with them.

Still, the book was very monstrously sweet, and it was overall a good read. I wish it could have been a little more, but what we got was pretty nice.

[storieschats]

Are Nesta and Cassian in love? Do they like each other? Because I read 700 pages and I am not sure!

Note: Check out previous reactions here. Feel free to comment, reblog, like and talk to be about books whenever!😊

ACOTAR Book 5 Page 699 of 757 Almost there...

What's happened so far: Nesta and Cassian have been horrible at being in a relationship again. They had an argument about being mates. Then Nesta, Emerie and Gwyn were kidnapped and put into the blood rite, which is like a death competition.

What I think so far: Every time we deviate from the Nesta/Cassian relationship the book gets better! The part where Nesta and the team fight in the blood rite has been ok.

Positive points:

All the moments between our 3 girls and the way their friendship deepens was super touching. Nesta deserves her own found family.

I like reading the fight scenes! I think it's a fun part of the book.

Negative points:

Christ, Cassian and Nesta's relationship is so bad. Cassian says he's stuck with Nesta because they're mates and the worst thing is that he's right!!!! They're stuck with each other! They are the perfect example of the problem with mates!!! It's horrible, I hate it!

I still don't understand why we can't do anything about the Ilyrian situation. I mean, blood rites and mutilation and sexism. Like Rhysand is basically an absolute king, human absolute kings have done some pretty wild things throughout history, I'm sure an absolute king with MIND CONTROLLING powers can change a society. If some mutinies come along and some Ilyrian have to die, then that's the price of doing business! (Note: Reading this back does make me realise what a bad idea it would be if I had absolute power and mind controlling gifts....Oh well).

Prediction: Clearly they're going to reach the top of the mountain. I'd give specifics on what I think is going to happen with the Briallyn/Eris/Azriel situation, but I can't remember what the problem is besides the fact that we can’t let the evil queen get the death trove thingies because she is bad... Is there more to it??

[u-n-c-o-m-m-o-n]

Apparently the easiest way to get Sam Claflin in a movie is to promise him his character will die.

Me before you (2016)

Bagman (2024)

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

and many more lmao

[waykeeper-girl]

Review of Notes from underground: ★★★★★

one can generally trust me to not be terribly moved by a book. regardless of the quality of a novel, I am simply not a particularly effected person.

so when I tell you that I sobbed while reading Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, I mean it with my full chest.

This novel is about a strange old man with a terrible problem, he is so bloody anxious that he cannot properly connect with his peers. this leads to strange obsessions with being seen and respected by others, as well an internal refusal to every allow himself to be accepted.

our nameless narrator would led us to believe that all he associates with are terrible bastards, but they are simply regular people - his old classmates, his servant, his coworkers. In order to avoid the possibility of admitting of social vulnerability, or perhaps because he feels he does not deserve kindess - our man pushes all away.

this cycle is cold, and you can do nothing by turn the page as he burns down each new relationship. this is what broke me - never have I felt so seen within a character - and to have it be someone created by an old man from 18th C russia. oh dear me, I couldn't handle it.

The prose is beautiful and simplistic. our narrator is an intelligent and literary man, and within the first-person narration, he speaks too us directly. I believe that this would be a fantastic place to start with Dos, or Russian lit in general, as the language is not difficult - at least not in my translation, by Andrew R MacAndrews. (please do tell me if there are preferred translations I should seek out!).

It's a little over 100 pages, but packed with action, emotion, and that Dostoyevsky magic. (how I love him). Underground also allows Dostoyevsky to examine his impressive understanding of female characters - something you see less in this era. There is an understanding of mutual melancholia between sexes.

"Love is a divine mystery and must be hidden from the eyes of the world, as must whatever takes place between lovers. They have respect, for each takes place between lovers."

This narrative was not made to comfort you. perhaps it is a cautionary tale, perhaps it is just one man screaming out, trying to find companionship. Perhaps it is like the narrator tells us, at the end, "We're still born and for a long time we've been brought into the world by parents who are dead themselves; and we like it better and better. we're developing a taste for it, so to speak. soon we'll invent a way to be begotten by ideas all together."

there is a reason I can only manage a few Dostoyevsky a year.

[selamat-linting]

> looking for a new novel with imperialism as one of its themes

> ask book review if the novel is about imperialism in the marxist sense or in the general expansionist sense

> she doesnt understand

> pull out illustrated diagram and imf policy book explaining how imperialism functions and how it benefits imperial core citizens in real life

> she laughs and say "its a good book sir"

> its general expansionist imperialism

[margaretkart]

Greek bookstores and Greek myth retellings

Well most certainly as a bookworm my visit to bookstores is quite often, so i came across many times, them having books of the myths retellings.

Outside they look simple but the more you read them, the more frustrating the situation becomes.

I have made a similar post about the failure of Greek mythology retellings and the issue needs to be discussed more.

The stores simply do their job but they unintentionally make many Greeks prefer and fall victims to misinformation from these books and not valuing the actual ancient plays.. how so you may ask?

By simply putting the retellings right at the entrance of the store and the ancient plays further back to be forgotten.

Especially young people influenced by apps such as tiktok or Instagram they unintentionally believe these books are faithful to the source and have a false image of our culture heritage.

Especially with the same ideologies these books have:

Men = bad, sexist, abusers

Women= oppressed, abused, have no autonomy or opinion

Ancient Greece= a barbaric land full of filthy men

Greek gods= cruel, manipulative

Seriously this is the image foreign authors have about our culture? This is the so called great culture they see, that influenced many through their traditions and philosophy? Isn't it harmful to the actual Greeks who we value our heritage?

Rhetoric questions but you get the point.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Now that I know more about writing, I'm upset at all the writing advice that urged new writers to find the one best way to write stories, when they should be telling us to play with writing techniques like toys.

Don't tell us to avoid certain points of view! Don't box us into the one currently popular prose style! Let us play and see what effects different techniques achieve, so we can learn the best ways to make use of them! Give us a whole ton of possibility instead of one cookie-cutter template!

[readthebookfirstpodcast]

Listen to our episode reviewing Redwall by Brian Jacques at ReadtheBookFirst.buzzsprout.com

[softness-and-shattering]

So I've been reading the captive prince trilogy by c s pacat, over the last few days. im beginning of book 3 now. and I just have to say the book is building it up to this big reveal of Laurent doesnt know Damen's true identity and is going to be so devastated and betrayed etc when he find out. (side note, of fucking course their names are Damen and Laurent. It would only be more on the nose if they were both vampires or something. anyway) But just. you CANNOT tell me that Laurent didnt figure it out months ago. That he hasnt been asking himself the whole time who the fuck this slave is who behaves nothing like a slave who is an incredible fighter he scarcely believes could be subdued to begin with to be taken captive. Laurents main trait as a character is his intelligence. Over and over and over again. the mind games he plays with his uncle and all the plans in layers of traps. Youre telling me he hasnt worked out Damianos the prince is his slave like at least 6 months ago? You think he didnt ask Nik...andros? Nick. You think he didnt ask nick of delphi some casually leading questions? Im this far in. But if we get an honest "I never guessed big strong slave Damen is really the dead prince damianos im so betrayed" Im .....I cant even throw the book because im reading digitally. but I will be very frustated . Heres hoping the author throws in a twist because unless you can convincingly convince me Laurent has a huge blind spot when it comes to Damen, which im not sure that there's groundwork for....yeah. Also I know these books are ~controversial~ ie very kinky in ways not everyone is comfortable with. Thats fine. Dont come at me about it. No living humans were harmed. No ones making you read it. If it does sound interesting to you, probably look up some content warnings.

[fumifooms]

<3

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2025: GHOST OF THE NEON GOD by T. R. Napper.

This caught my eye while browsing idly at the bookstore, but I was Strong and told myself, "no, don't impulse buy that; check reviews and if it's still here next time you're physically in the shop you can MAYBE get it."

Well! The reviews were Intriguing, and the oversaturated bright cover was calling to me, and it was indeed still on the shelf when I went back in for indie bookstore day, so! I yoinked it posthaste, put it in the daisychain lineup, and read it in a day (novella, 112 pages).

It is, delightfully, a weird and funny and fucked up little book. Near future cyberpunk thriller set in Australia, featuring petty criminal Jack Nguyen who trips (literally) into Very Advanced Tech and finds himself on the run from hired killers and dirty cops and a government or two, trapped on a lethal road trip through the outback with a university student he scammed a ride from.

The Very Advanced Tech turns out to be exactly my catnip, and also a HUGE spoiler, but your honor I love Oondiri, and Sally, and Jack, and horrible Quinlan, and poor philosophizing Col. Very violent, but it also had me inflicting dialogue exchanges on my mother (who happened to be sitting nearby) and giggling to myself intermittently--all around a fun horrible time. Four stars!

If you have a favorite fictional AI, you should definitely check this out.