#ya recs

[jessread-s]

✩⚔️🐉Series Review:

⋆ Found family

⋆ Multiple povs

⋆ High fantasy

Growing up, my dad was completely enamored by “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of The Rings”. Try as I might, I found the books he continues to put on a pedestal hard to get through (nobody tell him I said that). But I think I found what he loves so much about those books in Victoria Aveyard’s “Realm Breaker” trilogy. From the very first page, Aveyard completely immersed me in her complex world and invested me in the lives of her diverse, well-developed characters. With each new chapter, I couldn’t get enough of the dynamic between the Companions and held my breath as their lives were continuously jeopardized the closer they came to completing their quest to save the realm. And of course, because this is a Victoria Aveyard book, there were many betrayals that caught me by surprise, swoon-worthy (yet subtle) romantic moments, and epic battles that held my attention as I progressed through each book in the trilogy. The ending is everything I could have wanted and more and still leaves the door open a crack for more mischief to occur. 

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

@vaveyard @epicreads @morgana0anagrom

[b-oredzoi]

Books I Read in 2023: The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis

I killed my best friend yesterday.

[edinapublishers]

YA Recs for Disability Pride Month

A mix of genres but all perfect for YA readers

List of representation:

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick - deaf and hard of hearing MCs

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu - hard of hearing protagonist

Lakelore by Anne-Marie McLemore - ADHD and dyslexia

Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz - chronic illness (rheumatoid arthritis and Gaucher disease)

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer - FMC with cerebal palsy

The Good Hawk by Joseph Elliot - FMC with Down Syndrome

[mich-afr]

Stalking Jack the Ripper By Kerri Maniscalco Spicy 0/5 Romance 1/5 This is not the first book I have read from Kerri. I previously read the Kingdom of the Wicked series and instantly fell in love with it. Kerri knows how to write strong female protagonists; I love her style. Even though I do not tend to read young adult books, I love how it made me lose myself in this world. Though this is set in the Victorian era in London, our main character is anything but a high-society lady. I love Audrey Rose. I have always loved a good who did it in books and movies, so I am biased, but lately, I have not finished some books because I have been in a book slump, which helped me see it through.

I instantly fell in love with Thomas Creswell, he’s such a simp for Audrey, and I love it. This book is historical fiction, plot-driven, and keeps you on your toes. I respect Kerri for writing a thriller mystery and still having me feel angsty for Audrey and Thomas. I admire it because some authors can’t find the balance between romance and the plot, which she executed beautifully.

[punki-miltonia]

Ten Word Book Reviews: The Female of the Species

Great voices, good characters; the virginity stuff was weird though

[rukhsandbooks]

“He lets me go, and I feel flimsy, like I’m going to cry. Like there’s suddenly this part of me that wants that adventure more than anything, but I’m too untethered to know where to begin. For all the ruckus in the gym, it feels unbearably quiet in my head right now. Like without all the noise of classes and extracurriculars and college applications, there’s just this void staring back at me where my reflection should be.”

The getaway list

Emma lord

[pangur-and-grim]

I'm trying to make a list of thirty books to read in 2025, but alas......I've stalled at nine....

EDIT: alright, now I have TOO MANY BOOKS! thank you everyone for the recommendations!

House of Leaves

The Wager

The Hammer

This Inevitable Ruin

Steering the Craft

Penric’s Demon

The Last Unicorn

The Golden Enclave

A Marvellous Light

The Hike

The Blade Itself

The Traitor Baru Cormorant

Catch 22

The God Eaters

The Mountain in the Sea

The Long Way Around To A Small, Angry planet

The Book of Flying

Walking Practice

The Javelin Program

From the Belly

Project Hail Mary

Light from Uncommon Stars

Someone You Can Build a Nest In

The Monster of Elendhaven

Dragondawn

Leech

Long Live Evil

The Haar

Titan

Exordia

Till We Have Faces

The Scum Villains Self Saving System

The Poison Thread

[patroclusplaylist]

sometimes when we talk and I look at you I get distracted by your face and I forget to listen and to answer with something present that makes sense

[enlilwind]

Instant karma de Marissa Meyer explorează teme precum manturizarea și înțelegerea lumii din jur. De la început, nu mi-a plăcut deloc de Prudence - obsedată de note și de a controla pe toți și pe toate, Prudence deseori este irațională și se comportă urât cu cei din jur, prin prisma sindromului ei de superioritate. Totuși, pe parcursul verii în care ajunge voluntar la centrul de salvare și devine un fel de semi-zeu, împărțind în stânga și în dreapta mici pedepse sau recompensări pentru acțiunile oamenilor, Prudence începe să se schimbe și deschide ochii.

[itsbooktimepeople]

Girls of Paper and Fire

★★★☆☆

In the fantasy land Ikhara, Lei lives a happy life running an herb shop with her father until demon soldiers arrive with terrible news: Lei has been chosen to become a Paper Girl, one of the concubines that serves the Demon King. But everything changes when she sees the chance to fight back and gets involved in a plot to kill the king.

SO, let's start with the stuff I liked. Namely—and don't shoot me here, because I know a lot of people hated it—I found the writing enjoyable. The descriptions of settings and emotions made me feel like I was there, and, even though I'm kind of iffy on my opinions towards Lei, her voice was distinct and did cause me to empathize with her.

And speaking of Lei and the writing, most of the time first person present tense narration is a surefire way to get me to hate the protagonist, but Ngan manages to pull it off. I mean, I didn't love Lei. I didn't have any strong emotions towards her. But she was bearable, which is more than I can say for a lot of YA protagonists.

And, sue me, but I liked the romance. Wren and Lei were so soft and sweet and respectful to each other. The scene where Wren took Lei to the tree so they could grieve together was really thoughtful and well-written, and while the romance progressed a little quickly for my tastes, I think it did a good job of remaining a core part of the novel without being overpowering.

But I think the best written aspect of Girls of Paper and Fire was the portrayal of power dynamics. The way the Paper Girls are stripped of power is shown so well: they get no privacy, no free time, almost no control over their future, and are treated as objects by the Demon King. The rape and prostitution featured is never glorified; instead, it was terrifying reading about the Demon King and his violation of the girls.

Now, onto the things I didn't like. There actually isn't much I haven't already gone over—the reason this is a three star book is because almost everything about it was good but could have been better. Only one thing I can think of was wholly bad, which was the ending, which I am going to rant about and spoil, so proceed at your own risk.

***SPOILER***

WHY DID THE KING END UP BEING ALIVE? I mean, I'm all for protagonists failing, but. But. He was dead. He was visibly, concretely dead. If he got up again while Lei and Wren were making their escape, that's one thing, but when it's revealed as a cheap end device to make you want to read the second book? It has the opposite effect. It's so unnecessary. Don't throw in weird and meaningless twists like that in the end because holy smokes is it annoying and redundant.

***END SPOILER***

If I had to find another piece of criticism, I'd say that the whole paper metaphor was a little bit overused. I thought it was a good idea and a good way of turning the demons' terminology against them, but it didn't have to make an appearance in every single chapter. That being said, it didn't detract from the story very much.

Does Girls of Paper and Fire live up to the hype? No. But is it still worth your time? That's up to you. I don't regret reading it, and because I bought both this and its sequel at Half Price Books in a fit of I-ran-out-of-library-books-during-spring-break desperation, I will be progressing onto the second book.

[jessread-s]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

✩⚔️🔥Review:

A fast-paced, Pakistani romantic fantasy that leaves little to be desired!

“For She is Wrath” follows a talented swordswoman named Dania after she is framed for a crime she didn’t commit, which leads her down a path of vengeance against those who betrayed her—including the boy she used to love.

Using “The Count of Monte Cristo” as the foundation for her fantasy novel, Varga diversifies Dumas’ characters and carefully constructs a world with djinn magic to create something wholly new and her own. With magic thrown into the mix, a higher cost is attributed to Dania’s all-consuming vengeance to further emphasizes the idea that seeking retribution often does more harm than good. As a classic literature lover, I really enjoyed how Varga’s debut explores the same themes as its source of inspiration, but from the perspective of a strong, powerful female character! Picking up on the little easter eggs woven into the atmospheric prose was definitely an added bonus.

While not the main focus of the book, Dania and Mazin’s lovers-to-enemies relationship arc is intoxicating. The past and present dual timelines help to establish their palpable connection and the gut-wrenching events leading up to Dania’s false imprisonment. Despite the rage-inducing suffering she endured at his hand, she cannot escape the lingering feelings that rise to the surface whenever she is in his presence, adding sizzling tension. 

This standalone truly manages to have it all—characters you cannot help but root for, heart-racing twists, political intrigue, and a satisfying conclusion! I am hopeful that more books set in this world are to follow with the way things wrapped up. 

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[b-oredzoi]

Books I Read in 2023: The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis

I’ve borne it all with patience, the years of small cuts that heal over, my heart a pulpy mass of scars. But it was still beating, at least I could say that… Now it’s a dead thing, still in my chest. And if I can’t feel the good things anymore, then doing a few bad ones shouldn’t hurt a bit.

And they are long overdue.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Hi!! Your Cherik is so good and gorgeous 🤩🤩 If you don't mind wanna try to draw some Fall of X Cherik please?

thank you so much !!

i have a couple of ideas relating to the fall of x period specifically since theres. A Lot i wanna play with, so i hope this lil thing may be a satisfactory start :]]

and the obligatory bonus:

[mich-afr]

A court of thrones and roses-

romance 3/5

spicy 1/5

Guys, I sold my soul to Sarah J Mass...jk alright, the hype was worth it. Booktok was right again. and I highly recommend it. I love Feyre; I love her character development and her whole family issue; coming from taking care of her family and sacrificing so much of her life to just coming to an entire New World to reinvent herself is so exciting. This happens because she kills a wolf, a fairy who was Tamlin's soldier who he sent off in the woods so that he can break a curse that was on Prynthian for the last 50 years. The curse is for 50 years; most of Prnthian has to be under the mountain, except for part of the spring court, which is stuck wearing masks for 50 years and tormented by a magical curse that depletes the magic from each high lord. Acotar is actually a beauty and beast retelling which i didn't know until after the reading the series.

Feyre is given an ultimatum of being killed or being brought to live in Prythian on the treaty between of the fairy and mortal lands treaty and this is when she is brought to the spring court by Tamlin, and this is when the plot starts to quicken we learned that there is a curse and she knows she has to break a curse, but she doesn't know how to because everyone is so secretive about it, so she has to find specific ways how to break it without breaking. The rules are so crazy to me, and she also falls in love with Tamlyn, a spring court high lord, who she hates. Still, in reality, she hates all fae just because of the prejudice of the mortal lands, and how they make them seem, but once she gets over that prejudice towards the fae, she starts to fall in love with Tamlyn. And the whole under the mountain part is one of my favorite parts of the book. Yeah, Amarantha captures her, and she has to go through these trials, but just reading it is just so awesome to me. Mind you, I also had the graphic audio audiobook while reading at the same time so that I could hear the characters' voices while reading it, and I like the music, and the sound effects help you experience the book so much better as well. It's so cool; not only do you get to imagine it in your head, but you also get the sound effects, guys. It makes the book experience so much better, and if you can get your hands on the graphic audio audiobook, I highly recommend that you do.

[hinamie]

for @cherryys who (rightfully!) hcs lategame megumi as having a bunch of scars befitting his status as resident punching bag

[murasaki-cha]

My honest reaction as I am currently reading Powerless (my friend lent it to me).

This is peak romance if you ask me!

YOU KNOW YOUR GIRL HERE LOVES A GOOD ENEMIES TO LOVERS!!