Paranormal – LairOfBooks

Spoiler Free Review: The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Title: The Bewitching

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Pub. Date: July 15th 2025

Genre: Horror/Historical Fiction/Paranormal

Format: eARC

Publisher: Del Rey

Pages: 357

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☆☆ALC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

SMG delivers YET again with The Bewitching, a truly spooky/bone-chilling multigenerational horror set between 1900’s Mexico, and 1930’s/1990’s Massachusetts. We follow three women in their timelines as they find themselves in mysterious circumstances. Nana Alba in 1900’s Mexico is a young woman whose family has seen many a misfortune that leads her to believe they have been cursed by a witch. Nana Alba made sure to pass these stories down to her great-granddaughter Minerva who in turn, is now a graduate student focusing her research on horror literature and the life of Beatrice Tremblay. The author Tremblay wrote macabre tales and a novel titled “The Vanishing” that was inspired by a true story. Beatrice was attending the same university as Minerva in 1930’s Massachusetts when her roommate disappeared without a trace and under very mysterious circumstances. We see Minerva begin to find the thread that connects her to Nana Alba and Beatrice Tremblay. She begins to feel as if those same entities that Nana Alba spoke about and Beatrice based her novel on, may now be stalking her and they mean her harm.

What better way to start spooky season than with a brand new SMG?!?! This one matched the energy Mexican Gothic left me craving even with it admittedly being much slower paced. You just can’t rush masterful storytelling, the atmospheric writing was 10/10! Set in Massachusetts , this is NOT your average tale of Salem witches. Instead we get Witches and their origins in Mexico but bring it to Massachusetts, I’ll tell you one thing! These witches scared the hell outta me and made me keep the lights on as I read. Frankly I got anxiety anytime Minerva had to perform her campus duties of making sure all was good in the dorms at night carrying nothing but a flashlight and a clipboard SMH. The Bewitching is cinematic, haunting, atmospheric, eerie and at times gory. Each timeline has a healthy dose of mystery and paranormal encounters blending the folklore of Mexican witches with that of the New England witchcraft lore. The reason for this story unfolding at a much slower rate makes all the sense once you know why these women are being hunted by blood thirsty witches. Alba, Beatrice, and Minerva have some things in common that make them prime targets. Ranking The Bewitching as my #2 favorite of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and HIGHLY encouraging book lovers add this one to their September Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month TBR’s.

★彡 “𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙽𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝙰𝚕𝚋𝚊 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜; 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜.” 彡★

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Spoiler Free Review: Blood Debts by Terry J benton-Walker

Title: Blood Debts

Author: Terry J. Benton-Walker

Pub. Date: April 4th 2023

Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

Format: eARC

Publisher: Tor Teen

Pages: 416

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☆☆ARC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

New Orleans is where this story begins, the city is rife with tension between the magical and non-magical communities. We follow 16 year old twins Christina and Clementine in dual POV as they learn of their family’s painful history. Thirty years ago their grandmother was accused of murder, removed from the throne as queen and lynched alongside her husband, the twins grandfather. Flash forward to present day where Chris and Clem have recently lost their father leaving them to look after their sick mother. Or so they thought. When a voodoo doll is found under their mother’s bed, they realize they’re the target of the same magical council who dethroned their grandmother and a war for the throne is on the horizon. Told in dual POV this is a YA Fantasy centered around the Trudeau family and their generational magic. There are some mystery elements that play into the overall arc as we see Christina search for answers to her family’s tragic past and present day. Who is trying to kill their mother? did a spell Christina cast indirectly cause their father’s death? will Christina ever practice magic again? will the crown ever return to its rightful heir in the Trudeau family?

What I Loved? the strong presence of the twins elders, grief explored, necromancy, queer main character and side characters, and last but not least Clementine’s POV. I absolutely LOVED being in Clem’s mind who is loving, hopeful and has a strong desire to unite his family and help them get past their differences. This is a spoiler free review so I won’t go into detail but Clem’s story line definitely broke my heart and got me to shed some tears. It’s why I am absolutely picking up the follow-up Blood justice next Spring 2024.

What I wanted? More of the city/setting, it’s New Orleans only because it’s stated but it’s not really shown. More of their mother’s POV, after all she is the rightful heir to the throne, lastly a slightly less morose Chris. She’s a force to be reckoned with and her powers are hinted at having the potential to be huge but she lives in perpetual guilt until about the last 10% of the book. That being said, I have a ton of respect for Christina who has her boundaries set firmly in place. Non-consent is discussed when magic is used for a love spell, seeing Chris firmly oppose this was one of those moments that stand-out and give you insight to her character. We also get introduced to a few side characters, some like the necromancer are very interesting. I’d love to see them explored more in the next book, especially because it was giving Frankenstein vibes and that is one my all time favorite classics. Given that the last 20% of the book was fast paced, violent and bloody…I predict Blood Justice will be delivered swiftly and mercilessly. High hopes from this Book Lover 🤞🏽

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August 2022 Reading Wrap-Up

It seems only right that my first wrap up in a very long time coincides with the very first taste of cool weather here in New York City. While it was fun making my own Starbucks Oat milk Shaken Espressos at home, I’m ready for a lower maintenance hot cup of coffee this Fall. August was a month of spending time with friends, family and one VERY LONG road trip that ended up being an awesome time! it was also a month of consistently training my Brittany puppy Reese who is 8 months old and ready to tackle September’s hiking trails. Over on Bookstagram I get a lot of questions about Reese, so far he’s learned the commands sit, stay, drop it, paw, high five, down, and with me. His favorite words are eat, water, Dentastick, outside and go which he translates as run. Potty training was a labor of love but we’ve got him going outside every 8 hours/3x per day with no inside accidents *victory dance*

Reese is ready for Football Season

He prefers I listen to audiobooks because physical books get in his way of cuddles

On the BOOKISH FRONT I surprised myself with reading seven books since I typically don’t really go beyond five or six during the month. Part of this is because physical fitness has amped up my audiobook listening. It’s not always that I want to jump into a book and for those days I’ve started listening to Podcasts. I’ve found some new faves to listen to while also admitting to myself that this is the reason why my TBR is once again bursting at the seams. These are some that I feel do a great job of covering new releases as well as hitting those backlist titles. To name a few: Reading Through life, From The front Porch, The Bookish Banter Podcast, Literally Reading, The Currently Reading Podcast, The Bibliovert Podcast and All the Books! (Book Riot)

My reading was giving off Fall vibes all throughout August, none of these were light in tone or plot but my heart was happy and I have a few new 5 star favorites…

Love in the Time Of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson – ☆☆3 Stars☆☆ Overall enjoyable if you can get past the pessimist female lead with a knack for dropping serial killer pop culture trivia more than preferred. The grumpy-sunshine trope is done well, it’ll just come down to how you mesh with Pheobe’s personality, I have a full review here

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey – ☆☆4 Stars☆☆ a PERFECT add-on to your spooky TBR’s, this was an audiobook listen and I’m of the mind that this is the format to take in this story. I still hear the female lead Vera, bone-chilling and cold are the words that come to mind. The house this story takes place in holds many secrets which the author did a fantastic job of conveying from the very first page. It’s disturbing, the last book that made me feel like this is just wrong! is when I read My Dark Vanessa. The relationship between Vera and her mother is just about as toxic as they come, no love lost between the two. This one is told in dual timelines with Vera recounting childhood interactions with her parents & present time.

Shutter by Ramona Emerson – ☆☆3 Stars☆☆ sadly I can’t remember too much of this one other than it was slow and the narrator just wasn’t it. I wanted to love it since any stories that feature anything in the realm of forensics almost always piques my interest, but also it’s set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation. The MC is a forensics photographer who also happens to see ghosts and they almost always need/want her to listen or help in order for their souls to rest in peace. She’s met with one ghost who is very aggressive and won’t be ignored, she wants her murder solved or else. At times gruesome with depictions of bodies that met violent ends, the supernatural aspects were well done. However, I didn’t love that every single one of our MC’s superiors was a disgusting pig who treated her terribly. She doesn’t get much of a reprieve and the ending happened at lightning speed. Not sure if I would try this author again, may just not be for me.

Spy X Family by Tatsuya Endo – ☆☆5 Stars☆☆ My first MANGA! and I can’t stop singing its praises! Agent Twilight and the family he puts together for the sake of his mission are EVERYTHING! there were so many cute moments with Anya who is his telepathic fake child and bad ass scenes with Yor, his assassin fake wife. I just found out about the first season on Hulu and properly added it to my queue.

Jade War by Fonda Lee – ☆☆5 Stars☆☆ I hadn’t stopped thinking of the Green Bones since reading 𝗝𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 last December, their fates and fortune always at the back of my mind. This book is THICK! and not a single page was unecessary, not a single stone was left unturned bookworms! I enjoyed highlighting and annotating her pages with predictions and WTF moments. The stakes are even higher. The Weatherman has upped their strategic skills and our Pillar has fully stepped into his role. The war on the streets for Jade has now seeped into foreign countries…as in we’ve gone INTERNATIONAL!!! *please use the maps Fonda Lee has gifted us* good lawd, I almost turned my workspace into a war room to keep track of all the alliances and enemies closing ranks. EPIC and truly unforgettable, I think I’m ready for Jade Legacy.

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher – ☆☆5 Stars☆☆ I am guilty of picking up this book solely to sate the curiosity of meeting the wild chicken mentioned by every reviewer who’s read this book. Mystery solved and I too couldn’t get enough of said chicken or Bonedog! Every single character in this book brought me pure satisfaction and joy to meet on the page. If you’re a lover of quests, animal companions, found families, and the take down of abusive men then this is the book for you. Marra is the third born Princess who was sent away to a convent while her sisters were married off to a Prince for political alliances. A prince who is abusive and quietly manhandles them until the shy and introverted Marra spots traces of his abuse. She seeks out a wise old gravewitch with hopes of being given the way the kill the Prince. On her quest she’s soon joined by a reluctant and funny God Mother, a handsome loyal knight, a loving bone dog and a sassy chicken. This a genre bending (a lil bit of fantasy/horror), character driven, atmospheric and just all around fun time! I’ve already reserved a copy of T.Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead on Libby

After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez – ☆☆ 5 Stars☆☆ I really enjoyed this story and will be on the lookout for more from this author. This is a Latine story with a plus size Mexican American female lead who goes back home to Kansas in hopes of taking over the bar owned by her grandmother. Alejandra or “Alex” has acquired some social media fame as a trendy bartender in the bigger cities and is hoping to bring some of her style to the family bar. What she wasn’t expecting was to be met with a matriarch who isn’t ready to be told what to do with her business and in fact is asking that they prove why they make the best choice to sell to. It is a romance so what you can expect is the grumpy sunshine trope paired with close proximity and oh was it steamy AF! check out my full review here.

Why this movie didn’t get the massive Netflix marketing that some others received is beyond me! I LOVED it so much that I made it my second (the first goes to Always Be My Maybe) favorite feel good flick. This is a rom-com that is family centered and filled with many laugh out loud moments. There’s also great commentary on what makes someone successful in life and whether that factors into your partner in marriage. Soon after I discovered the series Indian Matchmaking on Netflix and I’m currently still watching, top tier!

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Spoiler Free Review: The Book Of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

Title: The Book Of Cold Cases

Author: Simone St. James

Pub. Date: March 15th 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller/Paranormal

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 344

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☆☆ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review☆☆╮

Characters: 7/10 Atmosphere: 10/10 Writing Style: 9/10 Plot: 7/10 Intrigue: 7/10 Logic/Relationships: 7/10 Enjoyment: 7/10

Rating: 54/7.7 = ☆☆ 4 Stars☆☆╮

Rating system created by The Book Roast

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗦 is my first Simone St James read even though I have their other books on my shelves. St. James just happens to be one of those authors I had a hunch that I would vibe with their writing style and I’m satisfied with this taste test. Opting for the audiobook was a solid choice considering that we get three narrators who slowly unwind this tale in past and present timelines. The mystery suspense is super amped up while we follow our narrator Shea Collins, a receptionist who spends her evenings working on her crime blog. Shea is a survivor from an attempted abduction at the age of nine. She lives with some PTSD that prevents her from ever riding in cars and what some may view as an obsession with cold cases. Shea goes down a rabbit hole when she crosses paths with Beth Greer, the towns wealthy resident who was once accused of murder. How’d she clear her name? Did she really kill her own father or those other random family men? Why does she still live in her family home surrounded by her parents things stuck in time? Shea gets the opportunity of a lifetime when Beth who was acquitted of all charges decides to grant her an interview. There are aspects of this book that are absolutely reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, just in a small town setting sprinkled with a bit of paranormal happenings.

This was a solid 4 💫 read that I really enjoyed, my only wish was that it had been a bit more eerie. Even though it is a mystery, I found myself quickly piecing together certain aspects. That being said, the paranormal direction that it took introduced a whole other theory in this whodunnit. I’ve heard from other readers that of all the St. James books, this one did scale it down a bit with the haunted aspects. I haven’t read any of their other books to compare however, I felt that I would’ve much rather enjoyed if the introduction of the paranormal aspects was executed earlier on in the story. There’s also a super slow burn romance that doesn’t take center stage to the story but I found myself rooting for. One things for sure, St. James is anuthor I’ll be keeping on my radar and The Broken Girls will be the next book I read by them 🖤

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Spoiler Free Review: Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno Garcia

Title: Certain Dark Things

Author: Silvia Moreno Garcia

Pub. Date: September 7th 2021

Genre: Paranormal/Horror Noir

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Tor

Pages: 272 pages

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Originally published in 2016, Certain Dark Things was given a new cover and re-released last month. There’s been a recent resurgence of Vampires across all media and I for one was excited to see a story set in a Dystopian Mexico City. We meet Atl who is a descendant of Aztec blood drinkers as she’s on the run from rival vampires. She meets Domingo, a young garbage collector who has been living in the city streets for years. He is instantly mesmerized by her beauty and willing to let her feed off him to survive. Atl never hides her true nature and makes sure Domingo knows what he’s getting himself into. What she doesn’t count on is actually getting attached to Domingo and developing feelings for him. This world is gritty and violent, the vampires all self preserve by any means necessary while living alongside mortals. This is a short quick read that is very atmospheric and will please readers who enjoy neo-noir. Our main character is on the run all throughout this story with other vampires, criminals and cops on her trail. The body count is high with very little focus on the romance and an emphasis on the chase itself. If you happen to be a fan of animal companions, Atl has a genetically modified dog who is super overprotective of Atl and is described as being large in size with tattoos on the side of its face. All in all giving Atl a bad a** look and swag!

I’ve honestly enjoyed seeing the growth in writing while reading Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s books, each story speaks to the talent and unwillingness by this author to be boxed into any one specific genre. This story was a 3.5 star read for me which is still a solid rating, it’s just not my favorite of what I’ve read so far. I’ve heard it said that noir fic is known to focus more on the setting and that’s definitely the case here. The plot is very straight forward (more telling/less showing) which I didn’t mind but personally would’ve loved to see a little more world building to compensate. I would’ve gladly read a 400 page book set in this world which already had me invested in its characters. I’ve been making way through all of SMG’s book, Certain Dark Things (being one of her earlier works) has left me in awe of how much growth we get to see in each of the books that follow. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a highly underrated author who will continue to break genre barriers! the one thing I can always count on is that I never know what to expect from this author but it’s guaranteed to be a solid read.

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Spoiler Free Review: The Taking of Jake Livingston by Jake Douglass

Title: The Taking of Jake Livingston

Author: Ryan Douglass

Pub. Date: July 13th 2021

Genre: YA Horror/Queer

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Putnam

Pages: 308 pages

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Those that love Horror Noir with atmospheric/creepy vibes may find a new favorite in The Taking Of Jake Livingston, it is intense across the board invoking many emotions all at once. Jake is a black gay Medium who is caught in a life of trauma having to see the death loops of victims that are sort of in limbo. This means his reality bleeds into the spirit world where Ghouls, Demons and Ghosts wander aimlessly. He sees the gruesome ways many have been killed accidentally & those that were not, like the mass school shooting executed by Sawyer Doon. Sawyer, a Caucasian male who was briefly in therapy and mostly at home with a mother who was more ashamed to have a son who struggled with mental health. Sawyer is now haunting Jake and also killing students he wasn’t able to get to before committing suicide at the school. Jake finds himself trying to stop Sawyer while also dealing with racism at his school, bullying, homophobia, and memories of an abusive father who tried to pray away the fact that his son is gay. Told in dual POV, we get to be in Jake and Sawyer’s thoughts all throughout until it’s made clear what it is that Sawyer is after. Haunting and absolutely THE scariest book I’ve read in a long time.

I could NOT put this book down! I worried constantly for Jake & how living through the horror of death loops alone would affect his own mental health. Then seeing him in a school where he’s the only black student and how the teachers/students interacted with him, was maddening and heart breaking. We get to live in Jake and Sawyer’s minds, the latter felt like the toughest to read from. Sawyer’s thoughts are from beyond the grave, we’re reading excerpts from his journal and it’s made very clear that Sawyer is aware he’s struggling with mental health. He’s having deeply disturbing thoughts of self harm as well as harming others and it felt as if it was only a matter of time before he gave in and acted on these impulses. We see him go in and out of therapy mainly because his mother feels it brings shame to their family. I can’t say I felt sorry for this character however, I do feel his mother failed him and in doing so contributed to the events that took place at the school. Jake’s POV was also tough for different reasons. I felt paranoid at times which made sense since he couldn’t allow himself to fall into a deep sleep for fear of Sawyer’s ghost killing him. It feels like Jake has become numb to it all but it’s still very shocking to read what he’s witnessing. Towards the last quarter, Jake does have a romance take off (LOVED Alistair) and being that he experienced so much trauma just to exist, I really wanted to see more of him coming into his own. I wouldn’t have minded it being a bit longer just to see more of Jake & Alistair’s relationship really have a chance on the page. All in all I was completely engrossed by this story!

Content Warning: CW: Homophobia, Bullying, Child abuse, off the page domestic violence, Racism, attempted rape, violence, school shooting (graphic), abandonment

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Spoiler Free Review: Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Title: Black Water Sister

Author: Zen Cho

Pub. Date: May 11th 2021

Genre: Fantasy/Queer

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Ace Books

Pages: 384 pages

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eGalley provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review, all quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒐𝒇- 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏- 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈.“

Black Water Sister is set in Malaysia where we follow our main protagonist Jessamyn who is returning with her parents for the very first time since leaving the country when she was only a toddler. Jessamyn has just graduated college and is in that weird stage of life trying to figure out which path to take. She’s also queer and in love with her girlfriend who she’s trying to maintain a long distance relationship with. Jessamyn isn’t out to anyone really and the stress of this alone is enough to make her believe that the voices she’s begun to hear are all in her head. When her Ah Ma aka Grandmother starts appearing and sort of demanding Jess help her with some unfinished business, things really get interesting for her. When Ah Ma was alive, she was the Medium for a feared and mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. A gang boss has offended the God and Ah Ma is set on settling the score to appease her and also to transition in the afterlife. This Zillennial Paranormal Urban Fantasy has a little of everything! ghosts, spirits, mob bosses, invasive aunties, and also some heavier topics. There’s attempted rape and sexual assault as well as mention of domestic violence and homophobia. Jess also mentions not wanting to introduce her Indian girlfriend to her parents for fear of racism towards her. These complex relationships are center stage and felt easily relatable all the while taking you on a wild ride through the streets & temples of Penang.

If the book has a healthy dose of snark and witty banter, I’m always game! this time though it’s not between two love interests. Instead, we get Jessamyn and the ghost of her deceased Ah Ma who she had never really met before her death. Ah Ma is tough as nails and that’s because she didn’t have it easy in life or in love, her kids were also estranged from her. Through Ah Ma, Jess is able to finally answer some questions she’s had about her own relationship with her mother who is Ah Ma’s daughter. I found myself easily invested in these characters and hoping that by the end, they’d bridge some of the gaps keeping them apart. This definitely leans towards the darker side of fantasy due to the heavy dose of violence but it’s balanced out with Ah Ma’s personality. Ah Ma left me shaking my head smiling one too many times with her disbelief at getting stuck so to speak with her granddaughter for a Medium. I absolutely LOVED the snark between her and Jessamyn, it was so much fun to go along with these two! When I first heard that this would be set in Malaysia I immediately added it to my TBR hoping that soon I’d get to dive in and be transported to a country I really didn’t know much about. Although we see Jess in action at the temple of the Black Water Sister, we don’t really see her exploring beyond the home she’s a guest in and the Uber to the temple. There’s mention of her work with photography and I sort of hoped we’d get to see some of Malaysia through her own sorting out of which career path to take post Harvard. Nonetheless, there’s tons of action to keep you on your toes with undeniably witty characters. I will absolutely read whatever Zen Cho writes next!

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Spoiler Free Review: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue By V.E. Schwab

Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Author: V.E. Schwab

Pub. Date: October 6th 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction/Paranormal/LGBTQIA+

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 442 pages

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLE | AMAZON

🖤ALC & Galley provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review🖤“𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒”

There aren’t very many books I’ve read that have moved me to tears and introspection, the last one I can recall is 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝐻𝑢𝑠𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦𝑛 𝐻𝑢𝑔𝑜. Addie is a very different read but it absolutely broke me in much the same way. I’ve had moments when I’ve felt as if life was passing me by much too quickly. When I’ve asked myself, what am I leaving behind in this world? faced fear of living a life without finding my souls purpose or simply not being seen. Not being enough. To see characters on the page who want more out of life whether by way of experience or human connection is something we can all probably relate to.

For our MC Addie, living a simple life wasn’t something she could commit to. She sought a way to break free of what was traditionally expected of her but it came at a steep price. A deal struck with Lucifer aka Luc, her soul when she tires of it…immortality with a definitive ending. Addie lives many lives in the span of 3oo years, lives that take her across many countries and continents. The subject of many art pieces, songs, and unintentional heartbreak that is at once forgotten. The deal stipulates that she may have this immortality however she will not be able to form long lasting human connections. She will not be able to utter her real name or write her story…she will love a few but will quickly be forgotten. This all changes the day she meets Henry at a bookstore because unlike all the others, Henry does remember her.

Addie Larue-I honestly feel Addie took me by the hand to experience the world through her eyes and make me understand why she would sacrifice so much. At first I just couldn’t…the thought of having my loved ones forget I ever existed and therefore have to let them go seemed too much to even fathom. In truth, Addie was a young woman born in the wrong time period. She was progressive and in many ways a feminist at heart, her soul craved experiences outside of what was deemed appropriate at the time. Domesticity would’ve been a slow death for Addie who is able to flow through the centuries with a sense of timelessness. I wasn’t expecting to love Addie by the end of my time with this story but somehow she managed to steal my heart.

Henry-the cute bisexual bookshop guy who is also in a sense trying to acquire as many life experiences as possible. However, whereas Addie is going about it at a leisurely pace…Henry feels like there just isn’t enough hours in the day. Henry is the guy who you won’t catch living a repetitive life, but this is just what’s surface level with Henry. I connected with Henry on a soul level and I think many readers will find him most relatable.

Luc- Our master of night, the one they warn you about when they tell you not to pray once the sun goes down. Luc is always present even when Addie can’t see him which kind of made me feel like I was waiting with her in anticipation for their encounters. Their relationship is very toxic seeing that it’s very co-dependent because Luc has made it so. We get to know his temperamental ways & I came to fear what new ways he’d come up with to make life all the more difficult for Addie.

Would you trade your soul to live many lives and see/experience what the world has to offer? Would you trade your soul to finally be enough? To be loved simply for being you? these are the exact questions that ran through my mind as I read this book. Personally, that feeling of life seeming like a series of snapshots that capture fleeting moments is something I’ve felt deeply. I’ve at times struggled to connect with V.E. Schwabs other fictional characters but this book gave so much character development & atmospheric writing that I found myself carried away with the story. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking, truly one that will remain imprinted in my soul.

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September 2020 TBR

Fall is absolutely in the air, it’s been a long time since I’ve braved posting a TBR here simply because the past 2 years have been mood reading heavy. Unintentionally this TBR is giving off major fall vibes & I am here LIVING for it! although I’ve found a new love for Summer, the Fall season will always be my one true love. It’s when I do the most reading, rock the cute hoodies, and drink all the seasonal drinks…I’m looking at you Starbucks Irish Cream Cold Brew 😉

By the time this post goes live I’ll be in the process of reading 2 or maybe 3 of these titles, one is definitely an audiobook. All of the titles listed below are eGalleys/ARCS/ALCS I am very thankful to have received & will be trying to review within this month. If I manage to make my way through these, I have a few add-ons to choose from but ummm…

Crazy Stupid Bromance (Bromance Book Club #3) by Lyssa Kay Adams-Lyssa Kay Adams can continue writing in this world & I will buy all of her books. Here we follow Noah Logan the unofficial Bromance Book Club member who is a tech savvy nerd/hacker. As with all of these books there’s a guy who is in need of better understanding the female love interest. I’m only 15% into this book & already it’s getting hard to stop reading so fast. I love that we follow the important themes discussed in the previous book with sexual harassment at the work front. The men are still hard at work shedding toxic masculinity seen first hand at the very start when we learn that Liv (previous female love interest) has entrusted all wedding arrangements to her fiancé Braden Mack. Braden has gathered his book club to make paper carnations & GAH! I LOVE these characters so friggin much!

Horrid by Katrina Leno-In the spirit of continuing to read Horror, this could not have come at a better time. Set during the Autumns season we see a girl whose father has passed away & with her mom returns to her home town. Creepy vibes in this house where there’s a “storage”room that runs out to be a little girls bedroom. Our MC also faces bullying in this town & from what I can gather, this may come down to grieving & mental illness or something actually dark & secret. I’m intrigued but will definitely be reading this with the lights on & no my Kindle back light won’t cut it 🙂

Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young-Pirates are my drug of choice but give me female pirates & now I don’t know how to act. I LOVED Adrienne Young’s Sky in the Deep & jumped at the chance of reading this on Netgalley. After losing her mother to the Sea, our MC is left to be raised by her father who in turn abandons her. Left alone to fend for herself, she sets out to make her way back to her father to convince him that she is worthy of being a member of his crew. What she doesn’t know is that during the time she was away from him, he’s picked up quite the rivals in his trade business. No one is to be trusted & nothing is as it seems…

A Deadly Education (Scholomance # 1) by Naomi Novak-I am about 15% into this book & I in NO way am here to support she who shall NOT be named. However, this book really does feel like the Slytherin story I never got. This I guess in many ways is Dark Academia with a MC who to many will come across as unlikeable. I happen to LOVE this type of character, her inner monologue has me wicked chuckling smh. She has all this dark power within her & can cast some powerful spells but doing that would bring about destruction. While others are working simpler spells to make life easier, she can’t summon anything basic. In many ways she comes across as a Bitter Betty but I can’t help LOVING her!

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole-Thought this was just a thriller but early reviewers are saying this leans more towards Horror. This is the year where I’ve started to take an interest in horror so I’m here for it! I’ve already started the audiobook via Libro.fm (my referral code) & the narration is A+! set in Brooklyn we meet a MC who is in the midst of watching her neighborhood go through the changes imposed by gentrification or is it? did the neighbors really relocate to the suburbs? I hear our MC may be a bit of an unreliable character & I love me a paranoid MC! here for it!

Kingdom Of The Wicked (Kingdom Of The Wicked #1) by Kerri Maniscalco-My! My! MY! I have yet to read a Kerri Maniscalco but this author has remained intriguing AF to me. Happy to satisfy my curiosity with this tale of twins, one Is gruesomely murdered & the other is left to find her murderer and avenge her death. Somehow, she gets thrown into meeting one of the Princes of Hell who is in charge of investigating the deaths of numerous women?!? Dark Romance?! HELL YES!

Legendborn (Legendborn #1) by Tracy Deonn– Southern Black Girl Magic? sign me up! Queer characters & secret societies within a school setting? with magical weapons? HIGH hopes! early reviews are all leaning towards this being a potential 5 star *fingers crossed*

Wayward Witch (Brooklyn Brujas #3) by Zoraida Córdova– The 3rd book in the Brooklyn Brujas trilogy & we finally get Rose Mortiz as the main POV! the littlest sister who is a rebel at heart, I’m beyond stoked! won’t go into deets cause spoilers but this is such a awesome Latinx trilogy to get into filled with magic and adventure.

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WWW Wednesday 10/30/2019

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On a World of Words and to participate all you have to do is answer the three W’s listed below. Once you’ve posted your WWW, drop a link to your post in Sam’s comments <3’s!

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

Two posts in one day? who am I?!? I’ve been on a reading frenzy this entire month and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down *fingers crossed* my review back log is keeping me up at night but that’s not what we’re here for today haha! I hope you’re all living your best reading lives & if you’re loving what you’re reading, please drop a reccomendation in the comments below. I don’t genre discriminate, all are welcome! ❤

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh Currently I’m 200 pages into this YA Paranormal Romance (It’s being called Fantasy but I’m not getting that vibe) & really enjoying what I’ve read so far. I’ve seen many bookish buddies give this one mixed reviews & can totally understand why. This reads much slower & has a historical romance vibe to it. Personally I’m just a sucker for New Orleans which you are fully immersed in from the very first page. There is a subtle approach to the supernatural beings in this world, we aren’t directly told they are vampires however they fit the prototype we are familiar with. There’s also hints that It may not just be Vampires who share this world with humans & that has definitely piqued my interest. The MC is feminist AF & way ahead of her times which only has me admiring her on the page. More thoughts to come in my review later this week.

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets and Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong Currently I’m 45% into this audio-book & have lost count of the times I burst out laughing while walking in public & in my cubicle. Ali Wong’s letters to her daughters are raw, hilarious, and no holds barred. We see life as a struggling comedian in NYC & L.A, her dating life before meeting her husband, and life as a mom/career woman on her rise to fame. Ali Wong keeps it real with her daughters in a way I feel I would with my own little girl (one day haha!) as cringy as it may get. Mini Review to come.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo I listened to the audio-book, I’m a big fan of this author and her narrating voice is not to be missed. Having listened to With the fire on High as well as Pride by Ibi Zoboi (narrated by Acevedo) I just knew this was my preferred format. A short read, we get a Dominican MC who has been sexualized at a young age because of her rapidly developed body. She has a very religious mother & very little guidance on things she’s experiencing with her body as well as with boys/men. There’s a certain shame that hangs over her head that she is able to express through her poetry. This review is sitting in my drafts (almost finished) & will be posted this week but I will say that I 5 starred it & HIGHLY recommend!

The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco (Review linked) A stranger mash-up I have yet to read LOL! I really didn’t know what to expect going in other than this was being pitched as Frozen meets Mad Max. PRETTY ACCURATE! It honestly just solidified my feelings towards this author…BAD A**!!! I will read anything Rin Chupeco writes. I have a full review linked above & rated this one 4 stars 🙂

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Gideon the Ninth is the most fun you’ll ever have with a skeleton.

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as necromantic skeletons. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy…

The Bromance Book Club (The Bromance Book Club #1) by Lyssa Kay Adams

The first rule of book club:
You don’t talk about book club.

Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott’s marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.

Welcome to the Bromance Book Club…