Tag: orbit books

ARC Book Review: Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King #2) by Rachel Gillig

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy with some Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Rachel Gillig
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: October 17th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In the luscious, dark sequel to One Dark Window, Elspeth must face the consequences of what she’s wrought – perfect for readers of Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf and Alexis Henderson’s The Year of the Witching.

Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.

If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom.

And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth’s head. The Nightmare. And he’s not eager to share any longer.

Thank you Orbit for the eARC.

THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.

“Be wary. Be clever. Be good.”

Duologies are a delicate balance. And Rachel Gillig knocked it out of the park. Y’ALL. This is it. This is how to finish a duology. I flew through this. It’s a shorter fantasy that even when you’re not trying to speed, the need to know what happens next will keep those pages flying.

There’s multiple points of view that lend all sides of this dark tale. And the new romance absolutely SENT ME. I am deceased. I am kicking my feet in the air, wide eyed giddy at the romance in this book. The romance isn’t the forefront of the plot, and that’s totally fine because the plot is SO GOOD. I love this magic system and the world building. The Nightmare cracks me up, and one the best morally gray crafted souls I have read about. I loved every single characters arc. Everyone landed right where I hoped and right where they deserved.

That’s kind of all I want to say because I don’t want to spoil anything. There’s everything you could hope for in this sequel. The build was insanely good and I can easily put this as one of my favorite reads in 2023.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy + Romance
  • Language: low-moderate
  • Romance: vague open door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, physical/weapons/magical violence

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ARC Book Review: The Phoenix King (The Ravence Trilogy #1) by Aparna Verma

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 512 pages
Author: Aparna Verma
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: August 31st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In a kingdom where flames hold magic and the desert hides secrets, an ancient prophecy comes for an assassin, a princess, and a king. But none are ready to face destiny—and the choices they make could burn the world.
 
“If we carry the burdens of our fathers, we’ll never know what it means to be free.”
 
For Elena Aadya Ravence, fire is yearning. She longs to feel worthy of her Phoenix god, of her ancestors who transformed the barren dunes of Sayon into a thriving kingdom. But though she knows the ways and wiles of the desert better than she knows her own skin, the secrets of the Eternal Flame elude her. And without them, she’ll never be accepted as queen.
 
For Leo Malhari Ravence, fire is control. He is not ready to give up his crown—there’s still too much work to be done to ensure his legacy remains untarnished, his family protected. But power comes with a price, and he’ll wage war with the heavens themselves to keep from paying it.
 
For Yassen Knight, fire is redemption. He dreams of shedding his past as one of Sayon’s most deadly assassins, of laying to rest the ghosts of those he has lost. If joining the court of flame and serving the royal Ravence family—the very people he once swore to eliminate—will earn him that, he’ll do it no matter what they ask of him.
 
But the Phoenix watches over all and the fire has a will of its own. It will come for all three, will come for Sayon itself….and they must either find a way to withstand the blaze or burn to ash.

Thank you to Orbit for the ARC.

DISAPPOINTED.

This book was a struggle to get through. I think unfortunately I got off on the wrong foot with it because I wasn’t super into the writing style and it went downhill from there.

I’m very confused by the world building. It’s fantasy, but sci-fi, but dystopian? I’m not quite sure and I wish some more time was spent in creating a world that made sense.

The characters were pretty cardboard too. My favorite was Leo. That man was jumping off the deep end, but at least he was doing something and had a personality. You never knew quite what he was going to do next and that was somewhat intriguing. Yassen and Elena were every fantasy main character you’ve ever seen. There romance was suuuuper lack luster and I wanted to connect more with them too. For 500 pages I felt like a lot was missing.

There’s some cool ideas here with the Phoenix/Prophet scenario. I was surprised by some of the things that happened at the end. But I can’t tell you if I want to pick up book two. Maybe on audio.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: one very brief & vague
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, battle themes, torture, being burned alive, mass murder

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Book Review: One Dark Window (The Shepherd King #1) by Rachel Gillig

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Gothic Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Author: Rachel Gillig
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: September 27th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

GREAT READ.

This wasn’t on my radar until a few friends gave it glowing reviews and I’m here to add mine to the bunch. I thought everything got progressively better over the course of the book and now I’m definitely wanting the sequel.

I loved the fairytale vibes with a good dash of darkness (always here for some darkness). There was a magical quality to the writing that created a well formed story that I understood with ease. I loved the magic system with the cards!! It worked really well and was intriguing.

The romance grew on me. I thought the fake dating and tension worked well between them and I’m excited to see where that continues. It’s more of a well place sub-plot and the chemistry and dynamic is certainly there.

There’s some quirky demons who think they know best and a magical king missing from the game board. I thought the ending was WILD and can’t wait for more.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy + Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: one open door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: possession, physical and magical violence

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ARC Book Review: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Megan Bannen
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: August 23rd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.  

Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest. 

After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.  

If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most—Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares—each other?

Set in a world full of magic and demigods, donuts and small-town drama, this enchantingly quirky, utterly unique fantasy is perfect for readers of The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Invisible Library.

Thank you to Orbit for a finished copy!

THE FEELS.

I have found myself on the side of LOVING this read. I think taking my time and really diving into the depth of the background of Hart and Mercy brought out the feels as this book wrapped up.

Letter writing books are some of my favorite. I love notes back and forth. As both parties released some of the tension and longing and trying to find more connection in life. The lonely nature of these souls spoke to something deep within me.

With nods to enemies to lovers and hidden identities the secrets poured out as Hart and Mercy got closer. But with some critical information left on the side the conflict was imminent. I thought it was handled well though and fit the theme of the story.

It’s a very quirky fantasy. The world building is a bit out there and I’m not sure it worked all the time, yet…it still did? It’s hard to explain, but I recommend leaning into the weirdness of this with talking animals delivering letters and zombies galore.

I was all in the emotions at the ending. I am completely smitten with Hart and love him so dang much. This does have a HEA, even if it was touch and go for a bit. I loved the reveals at the end and that Hart got everything he was after to feel fulfilled and ultimately, loved.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open door (on the brief side)
  • Violence: med/high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved one, physical and weaponry altercations, zombie attacks

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