Tag: audiobook

Book Review: Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians #6) by Brandon Sanderson

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: MG/YA Fantasy
Length: 304 pages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Starscape
Release Date: September 20th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, the thrilling conclusion to the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians saga.

As a Knight of Crystallia, I, Bastille, swore to protect the Smedry clan from the Evil Librarians. (And believe me, screwups like them constantly need protecting.) But when Alcatraz Smedry got strapped to an altar of outdated encyclopedias to be sacrificed to the dark gods, I arrived too late―and instead his father took his place.

Now Alcatraz is a blubbering mess, so it’s up to me lead the charge against his father’s killer: Biblioden, founder of the Evil Librarians―I was sure he died centuries ago!―who’s back to complete his goal of world domination. Now he’s going to use the dark powers he gained from that sacrifice against everyone not under Evil Librarian control. Being burned up from the inside is not how I plan to die, so I’d better figure out some way to stop him or we’re toast!

I know Alcatraz is wrong when he swears he’s no hero. But when a hero falls short, that’s the time for everyone else to step up and do what needs to be done.

BEAUTIFUL CONCLUSION.

I adored this series y’all. I shouldn’t be surprised. Brandon Sanderson can craft so many types of stories across age groups and genres and I am here for them all. I loved the lasting themes and messages and getting Bastille’s perspective turned out to be wonderful! I love her stabby personality and the way she and Alcatraz work together and provide support for each other.

There were some good turns in listening and the audio is seriously the way to go for this. Easy to fly through, always enjoyable and wrapped up everything I needed to feel satisfied with where things landed.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: March 2025

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I finally see the sun! And I am no longer a husk. I made it through another wide range of books and survived getting all 15+ ARCs read and posted about on my pages!

Happy reading y’all.

  • Of Song and Darkness by Jessica Spruill
  • [ARC] A Dance of Lies (A Dance of Lies #1) by Brittney Arena
  • [Novella] En Route to Romance by Laura Langa
  • Dawn of Vengeance (The Droseran Saga #2) by Ronie Kendig
  • Magnolia Parks (Magnolia Parks Universe #1) by Jessa Hastings
  • [ARC/ALC] Beautiful Exiles (Sparrow Falls #4) by Catherine Cowles
  • Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave (Finlay Donovan #5) by Elle Cosimano
  • [ARC] Love Bites (Timber Creek #2) by Aimee Vance and B. Perkins
  • Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle #3) by Tracy Deonn
  • [ARC] All’s Fair in Love and Blackmail by Gracie Ruth Mitchell
  • The Sword of Kaigan by M.L. Wang
  • It All Comes Back to You by Melissa Wiesner
  • [Reread] The Winner’s Curse (The Winner’s Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski
  • If I Never Remember (Remember Me #1) by Meagan Williamson
  • Something Like Fate by Amy Lea
  • [ARC] Petals and Plot Twists (Only Magic in the Building) by Jenny Proctor
  • The Cupid Chronicles (Only Magic in the Building) by Courtney Walsh
  • [Reread] The Winner’s Crime (The Winner’s Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski
  • [Reread] The Winner’s Kiss (The Winner’s Trilogy #3) by Marie Rutkoski
  • [ARC] A Time Traveler’s Masquerade (A McQuivey’s Costume Shop Romance) by Sian Ann Bessey
  • Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde #3) by Heather Fawcett
  • Things I Wish I Said by Gracie Graham
  • Wormwood Abbey (The Secrets of Ormdale #1) by Christina Baehr
  • The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson
  • Code Word Romance by Carlie Walker
  • Never Planned on You by Lindsay Hameroff
  • Empire of Shadows (Raiders of the Arcana #1) by Jacquelyn Benson
  • [ARC] What Blooms From Death (What Blooms From Death #1) by S.M. Gaither
  • [ARC/ALC] Lady Knight (The Diamonds #2) by Amalie Howard
  • Off the Hook (Never Harbor #1) by Julie Olivia
  • The Deathly Grimm (The Forest Grimm Duology #2) by Kathryn Purdie
  • Misfortune and Mr. Right (Only Magic in the Building) by Savannah Scott
  • [ARC] Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez
  • Tomb of the Sun King (Raiders of the Arcana #2) by Jacquelyn Benson
  • [ARC] The Voice We Find (Fog Harbor #3) by Nicole Deese

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Book Review: Mortal Queens (The Fae Dynasty #1) by Victoria McCombs

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A dark red background with a black crown and gold crown over the background. The book title Mortal Queens by Victoria McCombs is written in gold.

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 320 pages
Author: Victoria McCombs
Publisher: Enclave Publishing
Release Date: February 1st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

“They vanish without a trace, disappear into the night . . .

Each year on the center island, one girl is chosen to be the next Mortal Queen of the idolized fae. The mortals praise these lucky girls, but their daughters are never seen again.

The fae realm is eternal night, where disputes are settled by chess matches, power is acquired through the most devious kinds of trickery, and seven illusive kings roam. The fae hide their faces behind masks and guard their glass hearts to keep them from shattering. But beyond the veil of this luxurious paradise, a dark secret simmers, for their Queens have disappeared.

When aspiring artist Althea is selected, she is desperate to avoid the same mysterious fate. With no one to trust, she conceals messages in paintings and receives anonymous replies from a stranger who slowly reveals the tale of a girl who outwitted the fae. Only if she is clever enough will Althea survive the fate of the Mortal Queens. As long as the king who cannot love does not claim her first.”

PRETTY GOOD.

I enjoyed this book. It was an interesting take on fae and their world. I liked seeing how the magic system was working and how the curse was put into place. It’s an intriguing idea that helped keep the pace going. There’s a decent amount of world building, though I’d hope for more as the series continues because I

Althea was a good FMC. I liked that she was unlikeable and had a buuunch to learn. Occasionally she was a bit too immature for me, and by the end I’m still not actually quite sure how I feel. There’s definitely room for growth in book two.

I liked the romance, its sweet and a nice slow burn. I think this book is more geared towards a younger YA (which is completely fine, just mentioning). I’m curious how the series will progress.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate

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Book Review: Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Author: Kyla Zhao
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 16th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When a fashion writer dives headfirst into the cutthroat Silicon Valley tech world, her future threatens to unravel in this addictive novel by Kyla Zhao, author of The Fraud Squad.

On paper, Zoe Zeng has made it in New York’s fashion world. After a string of unpaid internships, she’s now a fashion columnist at Chic, lives in a quaint apartment in Manhattan, and gets invited to exclusive industry events.

But life in New York City isn’t as chic as Zoe imagined. Her editor wants her to censor her opinions to please the big brands; she shares her “quaint” ( small) apartment with two roommates who never let her store kimchi in the fridge; and how is she supposed to afford the designer clothes expected for those parties on her meager salary?

Then one day, Zoe receives a job offer at FitPick, an app startup based in Silicon Valley. The tech salary and office perks are sweet, but moving across the country and switching to a totally new industry? Not so much. However, with her current career at a dead end, Zoe accepts the offer and swaps high fashion for high tech, haute couture for HTML. But she soon realizes that in an industry claiming to change the world for the better, not everyone’s intentions are pure. With an eight-figure investment on the line, Zoe must find a way to revamp FitPick’s image despite Silicon Valley’s elitism and her icy colleagues. Or the company’s future will go up in smoke—and hers with it.

BORING.

Oh my goodness I wouldn’t have even picked this up if it wasn’t gifted to me because blehhhhh. First, if you think this is a romance, it is not. There are some kisses but the relationship is poorly built and told instead of shown.

There were some good themes and discussions surrounding many facets of fashion, tech, etc. But I feel like it was poorly executed. The conversations seemed forced and inauthentic and this came off more like everything was being shoved in my face rather than a natural inclusion to topics that absolutely should be discussed.

The characters also provided a large disconnect for me. I didn’t care what happened to anyone and the FMC seemed to go backwards rather than forwards. Some of her actions and thoughts in the later half of the book made me incredibly frustrated.

I might have given this two stars but I never hit that “hate reading” point. Nothing set me off so badly that I was rage reading, I just didn’t care what was happening either.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fiction
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: misogyny, fatphobia, body shaming and sexual harassment

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