The Glass Spare – LairOfBooks

October Wrap-Up & Book Haul

Hello Bookworms & Happy November!!! I’m back to being epically late with my wrap-up/haul & I’d like to think it’s because I’ve been so wrapped up in my reading…well at least this is what I’ve convinced myself to be the reason lol. October was a good reading month both in quality & quantity, seems that I’ve managed to break my 5 book per mth cap. Earlier in the month I attended NYC Comic Con & actually enjoyed this event more than I did Bookcon. Much more chill & I got to see many more authors this time around, even got a chance to meet Julie C. Dao author of Forest of a Thousand Laterns. Julie was very sweet & signed a copy for me that I was sending to my giveaway winner Beth over at Reading Every Night as a surprise bonus. Fedex totally lost the package & ruined that but I quickly replaced the copy & sent it on it’s way to Beth sans to signature…who knows Beth, the package may still one day mysteriously show up at your door lol.

October was also slow in flicks I actually wanted to see in the theater & I really thought for a moment there that I wasn’t going to watch anything. Then my co-worker reminded me that Jigsaw was being released Halloween weekend & the stars aligned for me to get my tickets (more on the movie towards end of post). I’ve been thinking of including the arcs/galleys I’ve been approved for in the month in these wrap-ups…yay or nay? or do you prefer a separate post? please let me know in the comments if this is something you’d like to see <3’s!

With the exception of The Dark Intercept (to come this week) I’ve posted reviews for all of my October reads & will link them down below. Both Nyxia & Moxie are my stand-out reads & I have GUSH reviews for these new found favorites, both pulse pounding in their own way. You Bring the Distant Near is also a new found favorite & I encourage anyone in search of #ownvoices reads on the immigrant experience & Indian culture to pick this one up. Invictus was so much fun & appealed to the Historical Fantasy lover in me, the time travel was on point & not confusing like many others who’ve had a go at it. The Glass Spare gave me a King Midas inspired fantasy with a female MC & gahhhh! I LOVED IT! Berserker was bloody & I described it in my review as Norse Mythology meets the American Frontier with hints of the classic novel Of Mice and Men. I’m still working on my thoughts/review for The Dark Intercept which was a cold & frightening dystopian that had me thinking….what if this were to really happen? I mean, is it really so far fetched? lol smh. It was a really good month quality wise with mostly 5 star reads which doesn’t ever happen & so I am a very happy bookworm 🙂

The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller (3.5 stars/review to come)

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano ★★★★★

Berseker by Emmy Laybourne ★★★.75

Invictus by Ryan Graudin ★★★★★

Moxie by jennifer Mathieu ★★★★★

You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins ★★★★★ (Mitali Perkins read & loved my review, when she re-tweeted it I got all teary eyed smh)

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen ★★★★★ (I also won a signed copy from the author himself which legit made my mth!)

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (gift from hubby, he’s turned it into his things where he gets me all HP related items, he knows how to make my heart happy lol)

Monstress Volume 2 by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda (artist)

Ringer by Lauren Oliver (Replica #2)

The Alchemists of Loom (Loom Saga #1) by Elise Kova

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Garcia-Moreno (Won this from a Twitter giveaway)

Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo (gift from my twin Gretchen over at ChicNerdReads, love her sooooo much! but this was a September gift & I mistakenly threw it in this haul so yea we’re rollin’ with it lol)

October Owlcrate

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

October Book of the Month

Beasts Of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang (my pick for the mth, also have the eGalley that I will be reading in November)

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King & Owen King

Some of you who have been around the blog for a while now might be raising a brow at both Sleeping Beauties & Jigsaw since I’m a self proclaimed scaredy cat *no shame* baha! Sleeping Beauties I do believe was me getting in the spirit of Halloween however, Jigsaw was not lol. Many years ago my bestie of 18 years wanted me to go with him to watch Saw IV in theaters only I hadn’t watched any of them for the previously mentioned reasons (i’m a wussss lol). He decided to sit me down & have me binge watch the first 3 movies til I walked away numb & ready for IV smh. I honestly think I can tolerate psychological horror but not whatever IT falls into cuz no damnit! I’ve banned all red balloons from my home, sorry tiny humans. Anyways, Jigsaw wasn’t anything new new lol, it followed the same ol’ formula & delivered with the shock factor in regards to the games themselves. However, I saw the ending coming within the first 30 minutes & I’m not THAT person….you know? the one that ALWAYS predicts the ending making you feel clueless? yea, I’m not this person so when I figured it out, the jig was up (jeje see what I did there?) smh. I doubt I’ll continue watching any future movies in this franchise.

Happy reading in November Bookworms!!! Hope you all had a wonderful October & an even better start to this month. What are some books you’re looking forward to reading in November? planning on watching anything innneresting? Sound off in the comments down below 🙂

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Review: The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano

Title: The Glass Spare (The Glass Spare #1)

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Pub. Date: October 24th, 2017

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Pages: 416

Formats: eGalley

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano can very well be seen as a gender-bend version of the King Midas & the Golden Touch myth. We are introduced to Wil Heidle the only daughter to the Northern King as well as her 3 brothers & mother. The King himself is a man who will stop at nothing when he sets out to seize lands & so the North is at the brink of war with the South. The South may not be wealthy like the North however, the King knows that the land itself is rich in medicinal plants that can produce miracle cures.

The King sees each of his children as pawns & as such has groomed each of them to serve a purpose in his Kingdom. Wil however is the child he has always feared & never loved due to the circumstances revolving her birth. She wasn’t born with her mothers beauty but rather with what appeared to be a birthmark over her heart. From the moment she was born she was said to be carrying a great evil… EVERYTHING Wil touches that has life turns into gemstone. No one including Wil herself are aware of this dormant power & so the King who trusts no one, decides to groom her from a very young age to be a spy to the Kingdom. Until the day Wil’s power manifests itself in the worse possible way leaving tragedy in its wake. Wil is forced to leave the kingdom & chooses to go in search of a cure for what she believes is a curse. Hiding her true identity, Wil ventures into enemy lands in the South on her quest for a cure. Meeting another cursed soul was never in her plans. Finding out that he’s the Prince of the South doesn’t simplify things.

King of the North- a man only interested in power & the lands he can acquire. He loves his wife who is his Achilles heel but he will use his kids and their skills to his benefit whenever he sees fit.

Queen of the North- It scared me how much of myself I saw in this character. The Queen has OCD & her biggest fear is anything bad happening to any one of her kids. She spends nights awake roaming the castle halls checking in on them to make sure they are breathing. Oftentimes counting random things such as the number of kisses she gives each one of them while they are asleep. The Queen has a wanderer heart which she gave up once she became the Queen & a mother but her free spirit lives in on in two of her kids.

Wil Heidle- Craves to see the world & experience life in all corners of the world, Wil is very much like her mother. She is also a very talented spy who really just wants to make her father proud. This is her only connection to her father & so she works hard at gathering secrets all throughout the kingdom. It is because of this that she plays all her cards close to the chest & has her walls up high. Wil loves her family, flaws & all but it’s her brother Gerdie she is attached to most.

Gerdie Heidle- Struck by Gray Fever when he was a child, Gerdie is a living miracle. He is able to walk with the assistance of metal leg frames & wards off fevers via his homemade remedies. He is an alchemist & therefore the King looks to him for warfare & ingenuity. Gerdie & Wils relationship was my favorite of them all in this book. The scenes in Gerdies lab were some of my favorite & I could vividly imagine the mini explosions Gerdie set off while Wil ran to check on him.

Owen Heidle- Oldest son & therefore heir to the throne, Owen will one day be king & perhaps the kingdom would be better off with him in charge. Also a wanderer like his mother, Owen has traveled the world & seen many things. He has a vision for the Northern kingdom & preventing his father from starting a war is top priority. Owen loves all his siblings & is seen as the level headed responsible one of them all.

Baren Heidle- The son the king has cast off as useless. He lacks the IQ Gerdie brings to the table & the logistical/physical skills Owen carries. This has made Baren into a very bitter & angry brother/son who hates everyone except his mother. I would’ve liked to have seen more of this character, he was definitely treated as the invisible son.

Loom & Zay- Later on in the story we meet the Southern Prince Loom & his traveling companion Zay. The Prince does carry a curse within him & very much like Wil doesn’t agree with the way his father the Southern King is running the land. They are enemies without knowing it & so their relationship is based on lies. Won’t go into detail for fear of spoilery things but I will say that I really did enjoy Looms character. He has a big heart & wants to do more for his people in many ways similar to Owen Heidle. Zay his companion is AMAZING!!!! she is the definition of Momma Bear! very maternal, Zay will fight you to the death if you hurt her loved ones.

A solid start to The Glass Spare series!!! this was my 1st Lauren DeStefano read & it really took my by surprise how invested I got in this story. I picked this book up on a late Friday night & couldn’t put it down, before I knew it I had reached the last sentence. A genderbend version of King Midas & the Golden Touch, one of my favorite myths growing up as a kid. My first revelation was that Wils power although it may sound beautiful at first is actually pretty gruesome when seen in action. No, not everything that glitters is gold & pretty! I still have this one scene in my head that was very descriptive & left me contorting my face & literally shaking my head NO! (yes, yes I am a scaredy cat) & yet I REALLY enjoyed her writing LOL! I kept flinching whenever she came into close contact with another person in fear she’d turn them into a giant ruby, trust me it isn’t pretty. The character relationships were my favorite & even the King in the North managed to make me question whether he was always that cold. Speaking as a person who deals with OCD, I found the Queen to be extremely relatable with compulsions I myself carry out on the daily. I will most certainly continue on with this series & highly recommend to those looking for a strong & fresh take on a tale as old as time 😉

*HUGE Thanks to Balzer + Bray/Harper, Edelweiss, and Lauren DeStefano for the eGalley copy of The Glass Spare in exchange for an honest review.

Hello Bookworms! what are some of your favorite myths/legends/stories you’d like to see given a modern twist? Does The Glass Spare intrigue you? I’ll be picking up my finished copy this Tuesday the 24th & sending a quick wish to the Book Gods that the wait for the sequel isn’t long 😉

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WWW Wednesday 10/18/2017

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

I am currently 40% into Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1) by Scott Reintgen & OMYGOSH Bookworms!!! It’s too early for me to start gushing about this book but it’s SO GOOD! I’ve had so many fellow bookworms read my status updates on Goodreads & get just as excited that I’m reading Nyxia. Beautifully diverse in such an interesting setting, Nyxia leaves you wondering what if we could all understand each others different languages. The most fascinating aspect of this book is that each character who signed up to venture to the newly habitable planet of Eden, is able to understand each other through a facial translator of sorts. The characters themselves are quickly becoming faves but never have I grown this attached to a male MC!!! I think I found the ONE! more to come on that 😉

On Monday I finished The Glass Spare (The Glass Spare #1) by Lauren DeStefano which I believe to be a very solid start to this new YA Fantasy. I’ve already written my review which goes live tomorrow morning & can’t wait to chat with you about. I knew I had to throw my hat in the ring for this galley when I read the synopsis & got from it that this is at its heart a genderbend version of King Midas and the Golden Touch. As a kid I was always fascinated by stories & myths but I was always down to hear about King Midas. The Glass Spare was a hit in my book (jeje) & now I start my watch for the sequel with bated breath lol 🙂

Since I am desperately playing catch up with arcs after having a disastrous September with family (discussed in my September wrap-up), I am doubling up & powering through some October new releases. I’m pretty sure I’ll be done with Nyxia either by tonight or tomorrow morning. I plan on starting the following 2 titles next, both of which I’m beyond super excited for! they are very different from each other which is great because I have a ton of Fantasy titles to read after & the change of pace keeps me from genre burn-out haha. I’ve heard nothing but GREAT things for both of these titles, especially You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins which is a multi-generational YA Contemporary, take a look at those accolades down below bookworms! & Berserker by Emmy Laybourne truly appeals to my love for all thing Norse mythology, I have a feeling I’m going to love it 🙂

BERSERKER (BERSERKER #1) by EMMY LAYBOURNE

Are Hanne’s powers a gift from the old Norse gods, or a curse?

Her brother Stieg swears their powers are a gift from the old gods, but Hanne Hemstad knows she is truly cursed. It’s not Stieg’s fault that their father is dead, their mother has left, and their brother Knut has been accused of a crime he didn’t commit.

No, the fault lies with Hanne and her inability to control her murderous “gift”–she is a Berserker. When someone she loves is threatened, she flies into a killing state. The siblings must leave Norway for the American frontier or risk being brought to justice.

Aided by a young cowboy who agrees to be their guide, Hanne and her siblings use their powers to survive the perilous trail, where blizzards, wild animals, and vicious bounty hunters await.

Will they be able to reach their uncle, the one man Hanne believes may be able to teach her how to control her drive to kill? With Berserker, Emmy Laybourne, the author of Monument 14, presents her vision of an American west studded with Viking glory.

YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR by MITALI PERKINS

Nominated for the National Book Award | Six starred reviews: ★ Horn Book ★ School Library Journal ★ Publishers Weekly ★ Booklist ★ Shelf Awareness ★ VOYA

Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture–for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve Bengal tigers and her Bengali identity–award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

What are you wonderful bookworms currently reading? planning to read next? any good ones? & if you’re reading any of the ones I mentioned, let me know down in the comments what your 1st impressions were <3’s!

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WWW Wednesday 10/11/2017

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

Moxie girls fight back!

Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.

Viv’s mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, so now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.

*I started Moxie yesterday & am currently 53% head over heels in LOVE with this book! trying to stop myself from inhale reading it has been a challenge. The MC Viv is someone who knows she wants to be a part of the change needed in her school but fears being ostracized. Her mother is her inspiration for the creation of Moxie, a “zine” aka magazine calling all girls to stand united against the sexism & misogyny widely accepted in her school. Best part: getting to see the Zines Viv creates, LIVING for the illustrations! ❤ review to come this week.

On Monday I finished & reviewed the EPIC time traveling adventure that was Invictus by Ryan Graudin (my review). If ever I were to have a checklist of things I’d like to see in a YA Sci-fi book, Invictus sure came close to meeting them all. Fun, well paced, amazing characters you can’t help but get attached to…sigh…I miss this crew so MUCH!!! *sobs* while I wait for Graudin to bless us with news of ANYTHING else set in this world, I’ll console myself by reading her other books 🙂

A banished princess.
A deadly curse.
A kingdom at war.

Wil Heidle, the only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in order to serve as a spy for her father—whose obsession with building his empire is causing a war—Wil wants nothing more than to explore the world beyond her kingdom, if only her father would give her the chance.

Until one night Wil is attacked, and she discovers a dangerous secret. Her touch turns people into gemstone. At first Wil is horrified—but as she tests its limits, she’s drawn more and more to the strange and volatile ability. When it leads to tragedy, Wil is forced to face the destructive power within her and finally leave her home to seek the truth and a cure.

But finding the key to her redemption puts her in the path of a cursed prince who has his own ideas for what to do with her power.

With a world on the brink of war and a power of ultimate destruction, can Wil find a way to help the kingdom that’s turned its back on her, or will she betray her past and her family forever?