Bloodsworn – blog tour (promo for a book I’m really freaking excited about)

Author: Scott Reintgen
Publication date: February 16, 2021
Genre: young adult fantasy

Listen up, y’all: Ashlords was a freaking fantastic book and I loved it when I read it last year. Phoenix horses, alchemy, the fantasy equivalent of “social media celebrities,” and of course, the first seeds of a good old-fashioned revolution against an oppressive upper class. I’ve been stoked for the sequel since I turned the final page. And when, during a live chat, the author started talking about the sequel even more, my interest was piqued even more: promises of technology and magic, with the added interest of interfering gods. Now the sequel is here, gorgeous cover and all. I’m reading it right now and loving it so far; a review will be headed your way as soon as I’m done. In the meantime, here’s a little promotional material from the lovely team at TBR and Beyond Tours.

First Line Fridays – 2/19

Hello, friends! It’s ya girl K-Specks, back at it again with a round of First Line Friday on this delightfully freezing day (currently feels like 3 degrees Fahrenheit near me, which actually isn’t bad, but it’s supposed to get colder as the day goes on). First Line Fridays is hosted by Wandering Words and encourages us to judge books not by their covers, but by their first lines! The rules are simple:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

Without further ado, here’s today’s first line:

It was late afternoon, on the very last Wednesday of August, when I realized Disney had been lying to me for quite some time about Happily Ever Afters.

Because, you see, I was four days into mine, and my prince was nowhere to be found.

WWW Wednesday – 2/17

Hello, lovelies! Time for another rousing rendition of WWW Wednesday (and yes, I’m squeezing this one in right at the last second, but hey–it’s still Wednesday, so it counts, right?). WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking On a World of Words. Every Wednesday, bloggers present our answers to the 3 W’s:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

I know you’re all just dying to know what I’m reading now, so let’s go:

This Golden Flame – blog tour (review + giveaway!)

Author: Emily Victoria
Publication date: February 2, 2021
Genre: young adult fantasy
My rating: 4/5 stars

Self-aware magic-AI-robot-person! A world inspired by ancient Greece! Pirates! Aro-ace protagonist! And so much more! This Golden Flame is a solid debut with adventure, diverse representation, and lots of wholesome character friendships. I’m so happy to be able to bring you this review as part of TBR and Beyond Tours’ blog tour for this book! Read on for my review, some more info about the book, and a chance to win a copy for yourself!

Let’s Talk Bookish 2/12 – beauty is in the eye of the book-holder

Hello, lovelies! Very excited to be trying out this new weekly meme, Let’s Talk Bookish, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where bloggers get to talk about all sorts of bookish topics and (hopefully) open up some interesting dialogue! This week’s prompt includes a couple questions centered around the larger topic: What makes a book beautiful? I’m going to address each of the sub-questions individually, so let’s get started!

Muted – blog tour (promo + a photo!)

Author: Tami Charles
Publication date: February 2, 2021
Genre: YA contemporary novel-in-verse

Hello! Super excited to be hosting a stop on the tour for Muted by Tami Charles. I’m about halfway through this book right now, and…wow. It’s great so far, and I can’t wait to get through the rest of it. I have a feeling I’m going to be emotionally gutted by the end (in a good way!). Stick around with this post to get some general info on the book, and be sure to come back here in a couple days for my review!

Audiobook mini-review: The Midnight Library

Author: Matt Haig
Publication date: August 13, 2020
Genre: magical realism, contemporary, fantasy
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

Do you ever read a book that deals with a topic that is really close to your heart, and all you can think when you read it is some sound of internal shrieking because somebody gets it? Because…yeah, that pretty accurately sums up my feelings on The Midnight Library, a story about depression, second chances, and the impact of even the smallest choices. As is typical for me, this audiobook review is going to be very short, sweet, and concise, because let’s face it–audio reviews can be hard to write. Let’s go.

Top Ten Tuesday 2/9 – Love Is All You Need

Hello, lovelies! It’s been ages since I’ve written one of these (I think close to a year actually?), but getting back on my blogging game–I’ve only missed one day so far this month–means that I get to start joining in more of the fun-filled weekly memes, including the delightful Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a Valentine’s Day/”Love Freebie,” so I figured I would get back to basics and just list 10 of my favorite fictional couples. Yes, I know, I’m ace, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love reading about the emotions of fictional characters, okay?

This list is by no means definitive–it is a mix of old favorites and then some I really liked from books I’ve read in the past year or so. I’m sure I’m missing a bunch. Please don’t be too harsh on me; I’m still getting back into the swing of things.

Without further ado, let’s begin!

Concrete Rose – review

Author: Angie Thomas
Publication date: January 12, 2021
Genre: YA contemporary/recent historical
My rating: 5/5 stars

Going into this book, I knew I would love it. Angie Thomas is a phenomenal writer and both of her first two books blew me away. But y’all, I did not expect it to be this phenomenal. Writing a prequel can be a risky move, so I was a little skeptical about how this one would work out–but this one was flawlessly executed, fusing both pain and joy in the experiences of a Black teenage boy who finds himself unexpectedly a father. I know it’s only February, but I think it’s safe to say this book will wind up in my top ten reads of this year. Just…wow.

Fable – review

Author: Adrienne Young
Series: Fable (#1)
Publication date: September 1, 2020
Genre: YA fantasy
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

Folks, this book is more than just a pretty cover. After all the hype surrounding it when it came out, I wasn’t sure whether I would end up actually enjoying it as much as people suggested. But I am so glad I ended up reading it anyway last month, because y’all: this one is actually really good. Pirates, diving for gemstones, trade rivalries, and boats–it is a quintessential female-fronted maritime adventure, and I need more books like this one, stat.