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!

All or None – blog tour (feat. some cool quotes)

Author: Aurora Lee Thornton
Publication date: August 2020
Genre: adult, fantasy

Hello, friends! It’s your friendly neighborhood K-Specks, coming to you with another blog tour. This is my first time working with Caffeine Book Tours, so huge thank you to them for allowing me to be a part of this. On the docket for today: a self-published, super-queer, #OwnVoices high fantasy. It’s got demisexual characters. It’s got polyamorous soulmates (yep, you read that correctly). It’s got trans characters, gay characters, lesbian characters, multiple species of humanoid creatures, magic transferred through intimacy, assassins…and that’s just the beginning. Let’s get started!

The Dragon of Ynys – ARC review

Author: Minerva Cerridwen
Publication date: September 15, 2020
Genre: fantasy, LGBTQIA+, novella
My rating: 5/5 stars

In today’s divisive society, uniqueness can become a point of shame rather than pride. The Dragon of Ynys is a perfect balm to soothe everyone and anyone who feels hurt by the lack of acceptance that is often so prevalent–it will make you smile, lift your spirits, and reaffirm your belief that there is good in the world, all in the span of roughly 100 pages. I seriously cannot adequately express how much I loved this book.

Unravel the Dusk – ARC review

Author: Elizabeth Lim
Series: The Blood of Stars, #2 (find my review of Book 1 here!)
Publication date: July 7, 2020
Genre: young adult fantasy
My rating: 3.5/5 stars

Spin the Dawn was one of my favorite books of last year, so I was beyond ecstatic when I was approved for the sequel on NetGalley. Unfortunately, while this was not necessarily a bad read, it pales in comparison to its predecessor, which made me a very disappointed K-Specks. Although still beautiful, Unravel the Dusk lacked the same magic and emotional pull that made me so enamored of Spin the Dawn.

We Were All Someone Else Yesterday – review + quotes

Author: Omar Holmon
Publication date: May 12, 2020
Genre: poetry
My rating: 4/5 stars

In his quick, lively debut collection, poet Omar Holmon delivers a rollercoaster of emotions chronicling everything from the death of a parent to racism to love to the pride in being a nerd. This is a book that will make you laugh, but will also make you think, often in the same poem. It may not be hugely advertised, but this is a solid addition to Button Poetry’s catalog, as well as an excellent testament to the experiences of a Black nerd trying to navigate family and this complicated world we live in.

Audiobook review blitz – MG edition! (feat. The One and Only Ivan, Other Words for Home, & Ghost Squad)

As I mentioned before, I’ve been digging into a lot of middle-grade books this month, including quite a few on audiobook. You know the drill: mini-reviews are all coming up next. This time, we have a contemporary told from the point of view of a gorilla who lives in a mall (currently one of my favorite books of the year), a touching novel-in-verse about a girl who immigrates to the US from Syria, and a cute-and-spooky book that is loosely part Coco and part Ghostbusters.

Up first: the book that OH MY GOD I WAS NOT EMOTIONALLY PREPARED FOR.

Aru Shah and the End of Time – review

Author: Roshani Chokshi
Series: Pandava Quartet, #1
Publication date: March 27, 2018
Genre: middle grade, fantasy
My rating: 4/5 stars

This was a cute and enjoyable read, for sure, with a delightful voice, a feisty and salty protagonist who was a little too relatable, and so much mythological fun. Obviously the #OwnVoices take on Indian mythology was a strong point in its favor. Seriously, props to Rick Riordan for helping support authors from other cultures in getting their mythologies into stories to be published and loved as much as his own Percy Jackson was. He could have written those books himself, but instead he decided to step away and let #OwnVoices authors take the spotlight. But I digress–let’s start with the publisher’s blurb!

Audiobook review blitz – Invisible Women, This Is How You Lose the Time War, & When Dimple Met Rishi

Being off from work for the holidays has set me behind a little on my audiobook listening, but I’ve finally gotten through another round of three, and you know what that means: more mini-reviews! This time, we have a nonfiction, feminist, data-driven book; a queer sci-fi romance; and an #OwnVoices YA contemporary/rom-com about two Indian-American teens at a summer coding program. Let’s get started!

Our Wayward Fate – review

Author: Gloria Chao
Publication date:
Genre: young adult, contemporary
My rating: 2/5 stars

Such a pretty cover. Such a disappointing book 😭😭😭

What do you get when you cross an OwnVoices story with odd mythological tie-ins, a cheesy romance, and parental conspiracies? Hint: it’s this book, and it isn’t very good. At first glance, Our Wayward Fate looked perfect for me (Chinese-American story, discussions of racism, quirky protagonist who likes puns, etc), but like a poorly-planned recipe, the ingredients became stale very quickly and did not blend well, resulting in a forgettable trifle of a read.

Top Ten Tuesday 11/19 – All I know is these times are changing

You know the drill: TTT is a weekly themed post hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is “Changes In My Reading Life (Maybe you like different genres or topics, maybe you read faster than you used to, maybe you only like standalones now).” At first I thought this would be difficult, but once I started writing, I realized there have actually been a lot of changes for me, both recently and from childhood to now. I tried to link in a few more of my past reviews and posts for this, so…take a look at them, maybe? 😊