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★★★★★ My brother sat me down to read this, since it's one of his favorite ghost stories. It's basically an amalgamation of various other ghost stories, but told in such a way most of the plot points are via implication, and I loved it! It's very spooky and fun. I'm kind of shocked that it has so few ratings on Goodreads, actually. Definitely go read it, it's only like 1 page long hah. There's a great reading of it on Youtube by Michael Hordern that's only about 7 minutes or so.

★★★★☆ I received this eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change. It was honestly more of a 3.5 but the first half was great, so I'm rounding up. Love and friendship. Shame and heartache. Endings and beginnings. Obligatory Summary Isaura is on a boat, going back home to her father's house after a failed marriage, but the sea has been behaving most strangely, and when her ship capsizes in a brutal storm, killing everyone except for her, she thinks she'll die far from anyone who loves her. Leonel, the last of the mermen, illegitimate son of the sea goddess Ran, is the Guardian of the Fathoms. He's been investigating these storms for a while, trying to figure out what dark magic is causing them, but his royal family and kingly stepfather disregard every report. When he finds Isaura, adrift and alon...

★★★☆☆ Throwback to that time in sophomore year of high school when we were reading this in English and learning about psychological disorders in health and everyone was saying that Holden was bipolar and I dropped the truth bomb that he had borderline personality disorder and even had the direct quotes from the book and DSM-V to prove it. The whole class was shook. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★☆☆ I read this with Nana , my designated buddy reader hah (pre-review) No one expects a princess to be brutal. Actually, everyone expects a princess to be brutal nowadays. If she isn't then she's ~ weak ~ and a ~ damsel in distress ~ (actual review) Finally freaking done with this. I have some mixed feelings. "Someday you will go, and your life will be blessed for it. But it will not fix you—all your troubles will still be here, waiting. First you should strive to find peace where you are, and then you can make the pilgrimage to celebrate that peace." I honestly expected this to be a 4 star review, or maybe even a 5 star if the book gods were willing. They were not willing, unfortunately. They were very much not willing. I'll start with what I liked: the writing. It was spectacular. Very very very well done! I haven't read a YA book written like that in a long time, and it was extraordinarily refreshing. It was, ho...

★★★★☆ I received this eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change. Gustaf the brave had fought and bled, Then found himself cold and dead. He pleaded with the Goddess Hel, That if She would only make him well, He would kill ten men that night, And send them to Her without a fight. She agreed and took him back, To his body bent and black. When his spirit stepped inside, The pain and rot forced his cries. He begged Her again to set him free, Which She did most generously. Death cannot be fooled or bought. Best be gone than left to rot. Obligatory Summary Carina is an outsider wherever she goes: in her homeland, where she escaped Death, and in her new home, where she doles it out as a Daughter of Hel. But when her rival betrays her, she's forced to befriend her kidnappers, a motley crew of t...

★★★☆☆ I received a digital review copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is in no way influenced by the author, publisher, or distributor. Sort of like Percy Jackson and the Olympians meets Skyrim, this fantasy short story tells the tale of Segree, an assassin for the Egyptian gods who's task it is to hunt and kill minor Greek gods so that his Egyptian employers can escape their prison. This was a fun little short story, and I liked the concept enough, though it tended to feel more like a RPG and less like a real fantasy world, especially where the mythology was concerned. The writing was generally good, though it often read like passive voice (which I'm not entirely sure it always was) and relied heavily on excessive description. Also, Charon, the main opponent whose scene takes up the vast majority of the story, spoke in incessant third person. To give you an example of how often he said his own name, there were 62 instances of the...

Recap ★★★★★ Well, I totally forgot about doing these, so I guess I'm gonna have to do them all at once!  Since it's definitely way too many to do, I'm just going to show the highlights. Here goes nothing!   ★★★★★ (Descending from pure awesomeness to horrible awfulness) 1. Crimson Bound ~ Rosamund Hodge   ★★★★★ (March) 2.  The Court of Broken Knives ~ Anna Smith Spark ★★★★★ (February) 3. Annihilation ~ Jeff VanderMeer   ★★★★★ (March) 4. Bloodleaf ~ Crystal Smith   ★★★★ (February) 5. The Living ~ Isaac Marion   ★★★★ (March) 6. Frostbite ~ Richelle Mead   ★★★★ (January) 7. The Water Cure ~ Sophie Mackintosh   ★★★ (February) 8. Kingdom of Ash ~ Sarah J Maas   ★★★ (February) 9. Legendary ~ Stephanie Garber   ★★★ (February) 10. Chains Carried on Wings ~ Marina Ermakova   ★★ (March) 11. Milk and Honey ~ Rupi Kaur   ★★ (March) 12. Obsidio ~ Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff   ★★ (February) May's ...

★★★☆☆ I received this ARC from Crooked Lane via BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change. When the time came for them to sleep through the night, something would be given: the gift of rejuvenating sleep, essential to life. But like every bargain, something would also be taken: it would be another of those inevitable steps away from her and into themselves. Let it go on, she thought, this beautiful torture, the time of sleepless nights. For as long as it will. Obligatory Summary Lauren Tranter is certain that a strange woman wants to steal her newborn twins and replace them with her own, but no one else believes her; not her husband, not her friends, and certainly not the police. Detective Harper, however, thinks there's more to the situation. After Lauren's twins get briefly abducted, things seem to be coming together, but nothin...