If you can’t afford the book right now, no worries—requesting through your local library is also great! Books that are in high demand may get additional copies purchased for the collection. Adding on Goodreads and boosting on social media is also much appreciated, since word-of-mouth is way more effective than me just saying “buy my book, there’s a horrible girl!”
(But also: please buy my book. There is a very horrible girl.)
Not to spam folks, but boosting this again for anyone who missed it and/or needed a reminder! If you didn’t know, for the overwhelming majority of authors, the first week of sales is their best shot at hitting the NYT bestseller list. Since Little Thieves came out this Tuesday the 19th, ordering or buying in-store by Tuesday the 26th will count!
I have not hit the list before, but I sure would like to—hitting the list actually increases sales even further, for one. But beyond just feeding me and my cats, publishers tend to decide whether to keep publishing authors based on their sales. (Which, considering how little control authors have over the marketing for their book…. is….. challenging.)
I’d say Little Thieves has a decent shot at hitting the list next week, but it’s up against a lot of really great books, at a time when supply chain issues are flipping tables all over the place. So: I will take all the help I can get! ✨
Oh, and PS: if we do hit the list, I will share a dramatic reading of either a minute of my bad teen fanfiction, or one of the many short stories I wrote in grade school. This is the best offer I can make.
Final boost! I won’t be bugging y’all after this, haha, but if you’ve been meaning to pick up a hardcover copy, there are about 24 hours left until the cutoff for it to count towards bestseller lists. In-store purchases count! Placing an order online counts! And just sharing this around ye olde tumblr graveyard helps too!!
I received this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. thank you Publisher!
3 out of 5 stars
The moment I saw this cover and read the synopsis all I could think about was reading this book. Definitely one of my more anticipated reads of 2019.
Overall the book was cute and enjoyable but nothing special. I had some issues, particularly the use of the French language and other various cultural aspects taken from France without the book actually taking place in France, or really the real world at all. It was quite obviously a book about a fictional world but using everything non-fictional about our world instead.
One particular line in the book compared an event to “Moses parting the Red Sea”. Again, this comes back to the author taking aspects from our already existing world and including it in a fantasy book where you wouldn’t really expect Moses or his religious backstory to appear or exist at all. I felt like the author chose to use French and Catholicism because she wasn’t creative enough to come up with her own language and religion. I have reads books by authors who were able to do both flawlessly while using our existing world as a starting point and as inspiration.
It’s a shame that the book didn’t quite live up to my expectations but I can definitely see this story appealing to the young adult audience it is geared to. There is a somewhat steamy sex scene which you normally wouldn’t see in a young adult book and truthfully was the only time during the entire book that I felt that I wasn’t meant to be a 13 year old girl reading this book.
The romance was cute but rushed, and the characters weren’t as well fleshed out as I would have liked. I feel like this would have been a spectacular book had it truly been taken into the adult reader category and the dialogue was made to reflect that. Having modern day slang and curse words in a world closely related to 1700’s France just did not fit for me.
Hey y’all Ten Suns in the Sky by PresidentHades on AO3 is killing me so here, have some Alina inspired by their fic! It’s infused with so much Chinese mythology, plus this Alina is a Confident Queen who is the daughter of a runaway Shu princess. I love her and I love this fic so pls go check it out! I’ve linked it below for y’all:
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo cover redesign! Finally, the suite is complete❤️ Thank you to everyone who followed along, but fear not, the boys are coming ✨✨
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim is out today! It’s a delightful little tale set in fantasy East Asia, complete with sassy dragons, snaky witches, and secrets identities, and I do recommend, esp if you’re also a fan of Spin the Dawn bc it ties in very nicely
Broken Web by Lori M. Lee was kind of great, thanks in no small part to the wonderful villain of the story. After all, who doesn’t love villains who parallel their heroes? Who doesn’t love a tragic backstory? And a little light murder?
Book 2 ended on such a cliffhanger, the wait for book 3 will actually kill me
Ning from A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin Have I mentioned how much I love the magic system?? Ning’s magic in particular is super fun and I’m so excited for book 2!
A fake book embossing design I made for Judy I. Lin’s fantastic book, A Magic Steeped in Poison! I couldn’t pick between this and another concept that I wanted to paint, so I decided to have my cake and eat it by turning this into a gold emboss design instead ✨
Simultaneously want to punch Cal in his big dumb stupid head, and also kiss him. Big oaf. Review below. —– I have a horrible, terrible confession to make: Every other time I’ve read this series, Maven has been the brother to own my heart. I’m not sure why — okay, yes I am. I’ve felt pity for Maven and what his mother did to him, but that’s no excuse for the things he’s done. I’m happy to say that I am no longer a Maven stan. I mean, I still harbor some pity for him, which I could talk about all day, but he no longer is the brother to own my heart.
Now, that honor goes to Cal. Even though I wish to punch him in the dome.
I don’t remember my previous review for this novel, so whatever it was, disregard it. This is the only one that matters now.
Honestly, this one took me a while to get through this time. It wasn’t just the fact that I’ve been hecking busy, but it was also because once I got to a certain point in the book, it just seemed to move slowly for me. Plus, after the death of Shade in Glass Sword, I just felt quite empty inside. Every mention was like a stab to the heart. Ugh. Rude, Mrs. Aveyard.
Plus, it’s kind of difficult for me to focus on reading while I’m also trying to focus on writing a novel of my own. I’m getting side-tracked.
I enjoyed this book because we do get a better look inside the mind of Maven Calore. We get to learn why he is the way he is, at least to an extent. I believe there has to be some evil in him, even without his mother’s influence. Maven is a very complex character, in my opinion, and I hope his character is explored more in War Storm, because I would love to see more of what it’s like inside his head. Maybe have a couple chapters from his point of view? (I haven’t read War Storm yet, because I don’t want the series to end.)
As for Mare, she really annoyed me in this one. Her whining and self-absorbed attitude got real old real fast. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Mare Barrow, but sometimes she is just a little much. Or maybe I’m being cold. She did go through a hell of a lot in this one. Hmm. Starting to doubt myself now. Either way, I would die for her.
Cal? Big dumb stupid kissable idiot.
The book as a whole was simply beautiful. And heartbreaking. And anger-making. Which is great; I love feeling a plethora of emotions when I read. I love feeling so immersed in a story, so connected to the characters, and this series never fails to grab me by the heart.
I haven’t reviewed in a while, so this is all-over-the-place-garbage, but in my opinion, if you’re wondering if you should continue after Glass Sword, stop wondering! The series gets better with each book, and King’s Cage is no different. There are plenty twists, heart-wrenching moments, moments that make you want to kick someone in the kneecaps, moments that make you hate people and then question if you actually hate them. There’s a lot of moments. Moments you should be a part of.
Anyway, I hate endings, so I may take a break before reading War Storm.
convincing you to read kingdom of the wicked because the sequel comes out in 10 days!
this post won’ t contain any major spoilers, but a few slips might happen-
Let’s start out with the premise :)
It’s basically a historical fiction- a murder mystery, based in the 1800s in Italy. BUT IT’S NOT JUST ANY OTHER MURDER MYSTERY, it has witches and super hot demons and not so hot hunters and- and chefs<3 AND POSSIBLY THE BEST FANTASY ENEMIES TO LOVERS I’VE SEEN IN A WHILE.
I cannot begin to explain how beautiful the entire ambience of this book is,,, the town in Italy is a very warm, cozy, and welcoming place. So that makes the whole murder situation even eerier and more intriguing. This isn’t one of those mysteries where you can guess from the start who it’s gonna be, and the murder part isn’t that IN YOUR FACE. It’s delicately woven throughout the rest of the plot. There’s a lot of chilling stuff going on, everyone has secrets and everyone is super sexy and scary- all in all this makes for the perfect autumnal read :)
PLOT!!
We start out with two twin witches who’s family owns a restaurant (i mean those lucky bitches get to COOK AND BAKE AND DO WITCHCRAFT ALL DAY LIKE- *dream life*)
Emilia and Vittoria dicarlo- one of them is super outgoing and loud and EDGY- she isn’t like other girls!! she has secret affairs and gets in trouble all the time,,, the other is kind of chill and reserved and loving.
BUT THEN SOMETHING LIFE CHANGING HAPPENS- one of them makes a mistake and ends up six feet under.
Now, witchcraft is like super illegal because women with gifts and knowledge are a threat to society!! Witches have been ending up dead in many towns across Italy and since witchcraft is super hush hush, our protagonist can’t exactly ask the police for help. So she does one better- SHE ASKS THE FUCKING PRINCE OF HELL- wrath. Go big or go home honey :)))
The magic system in this book is really interesting because it’s quite realistic- they use herbs and blessed candles and chalk and really aesthetically pleasing things. Some witches practice dark magic and go nuts because they have these visions which is so cool. The twins come from an ancient family of witches and their nonna is super badass and grumpy i love her.
The villains(seggsy antiheroes?) are the malvachi aka the princes of hell. Each prince has domain over one deadly sin(pride, envy, wrath etc). And they can like control those emotions which IS SO SICKK aaahhhh. Throughout the story, the main characters meets these princes and gets influenced by them but also learns new things to uncover the bigger mystery going on and they’re all very intriguing and sexy.(I’ve used the word sexy so many times like is that not reason enough to read it?)
The restaurant- I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS ARC. It just enhances the reading experience by adding these touches of how invested the characters are in their recipes and flavours which makes it so comforting and also hilarious because one moment someone is like “OMG NO LOOK A CORPSE aaahhh” and the next they’re like “hmmm i want your recipe for cannoli *puppy eyes*”
vibes you can expect- mysterious, spells, herbs, candles, witches, church, family love, demons, betrayal, forced alliance, grumpy + sunshine trope, revenge lotsss of revenge, angsty, comforting yet also somehow on the edge of your seat feeling, secrets and darkness, hidden agendas, AND LOTS OF ITALIAN CUISINE.
The romance<333
aka the reason I picked up this book. At this point the romantic interest could be like “aahh you’re ugly i hope you die” and then two seconds later be like “you’re the most beautiful thing in this world you are the sky and the sun and you could walk over me do you want something to eat? do you want a kitten or a blanket or a cup of tea??maybe we could bang and get married????” and you have the AUDACITY to call that enemies to lovers????
BUT THIS BOOK PORTRAYS that hate to forced alliance to secrets to betrayal to mistrust to slight understanding to maybe some hints of romance. The slowburn is just *chef’s kiss*
I ADORE how you can never tell what the love interest is gonna do and you’re like daddy??sorry-daddy?? sorry. NO DON"T MAKE ME HATE YOU…..da-
ALSO there’s a slight corruption arc because the main character is so driven by her rage and that for me is the cherry on top.
AT ONE POINT, THE DARK ANTIHERO kisses the protagonist to save her life(?) AND SAYS “LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO HATE ME FOR THIS” LIKE SIRRRR??
Quotes you might like-
“I feel your gaze on me when you think I’m not paying attention. You track the dagger every time I move. You need to know where it is.“ No ma'am he’s looking at you-
"Young women died. Life resumed. Such was the way of the world, at least according to men.” I didn’t come here to cry but okay-
“I couldn’t begin to understand why Wrath had said “my Emilia’s.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure if the demon even remembered my name since he only ever tossed around “witch.” EEEEEHHH THE POSSESSIVENESS TROPE
“You have something I want.” “If it’s my still-beating heart, I’m afraid I must decline.” “No, but I imagine you’ll end up giving that to my brother one day.” excuse me WHILE I GO SCREAM.
"My sister was the adventurous one—I was satisfied with safe, clean fun. Give me a steamy romance novel with forbidden love and impossible odds. That was the kind of adventure I could get behind.” same, literally same.
This book as Taytay songs because why not?
•Look what you made me do
•No body, no crime
•Treacherous
•Dancing with our hands tied
•Mad woman
•I did something bad
•Wildest dreams tv THISSS SO MUCH
•Delicate
•Haunted
•So it goes >>>>
Just before you go,, THE SEQUEL HAS THE “I DON’T WANNA KISS YOU UGHHH”// “LIAR” trope and also the “YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T GIVE AF ABOUT ME”// “I LIED.” trope
No but the shades of magic series is just Holland being “this is my boyfriend Kell and Kell’s girlfriend Delilah and her bestie Alucard who’s also Rhy’s boyfriend”
Rereading ‘A court of thorns and roses’ after a year for research related purposes- part 1
Feyre was in her flop era babes
WAIT WHY DO I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RECOLLECTION OF THIS CHARACTER HE’S NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN
Feyre so humble and selfless you guys she’s not like other girls frrr
Omg it’s almost like- like the wolf and the doe are a METAPHOR for the power dynamic between Feyre and Tamlin
GROWL??? RHYSAND IS THAT YOU??
Elain’s literally so annoying like honeybear why don’t you grow some vegetables or something
okay *Tamlin shows up*
This bargain makes no sense to me like i know there’s some bigger stuff going on but this is the equivalent of “you killed my bestie? well now you have to suffer living with me☺”
PROTECT NESTA AAAHHHH
Lucien was actually my favorite character in the first book he’s the only one with a personality
If I had a penny for every time a complex female character stabbed her own hand just to prove a point, I’d have two pennies which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.
“Enemies to lovers this!!” “friends to lovers that!!” “no rivals to lovers is superior!!” “It goes strangers to rivals to forced friendship to fake lovers to real lovers to enemies to-” Sweetie please call your therapist back they’re worried about you
[Image Description: A blue lightning storm with the words ‘The Hyades Brigade’ written over it.]
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Happy new year everyone!
Now let’s start off 2022 with a bang ･:*:･ﾟ★ ･:*:･ﾟ☆ ╰(*°▽°*)╯
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THE HYADES BRIGADE
SUMMARY
Once every twenty years, a new generation of the Hyades Brigade—the world’s greatest protectors—are rigorously trained to stand at the forefront of humanity. Shining their light down onto the earth with their great strength and wisdom, Ren Yang had longed to be one of them for as long as he could remember.
That was up till, of course, he let his curiosity get the better of him again.
Within the span of a single night, he not only managed to irrevocably fuck up all his chances in the worst way possible, but also got caught in the act by a current active member of the Hyades. Just as he was certain he’d have to sign his own death warrant, she offered him the chance of a lifetime—take her place as Zeta, the emotional link of the Hyades, and she’d never tell a soul of his mistake. A perfect way to redeem himself, right?
He almost wished she just threw him off a cliff instead.
With a mask as cold as ice, social skills more miserable than a dead, flopping fish, and an EQ level that belonged in the pits, he was hardly liked by anyone, let alone capable of becoming the ‘emotional link’ of the team. Top that with the other members being just as big of a problem child as he was, and he was struggling just getting everyone to form one cohesive unit, much less actually turn them into a full-fledged team.
But there was no time for infights and disagreements—deep inside the mountains, strange animals were being found mutilated and hidden within the long cracks of caves. With mysterious sounds haunting the people with every step they take, and the elderly disappearing into the night one by one, the Hyades would have to come together fast in order to fix this mess.
Even still, Ren couldn’t help but wonder—why, out of the hundred candidates remaining, was he the one chosen to be the next Zeta?
Featuring:
A blind & trans aro ace MC :3
An entirely queer main cast~ (I actually wanted to put a token straight inside but I guess that didn’t pan out in the end… Whoops haha 〒▽〒)
A found family! Entirely made up of nothing but problem children! Hoorayyy they’re all gonna kill each other!! :D
Betting pools huhuhuhuhu
A much deeper focus on friendship and family over romance (✿◡‿◡)
TRANS AROACE MC AND QUEER CAST AND FOUND FAMILY ANDTHAT FAMILY IS MADE UP OF PROBLEM CHILDREN AND DEEPER FOCUS ON FRIENDSHIP/FAMILY MORE THAN ROMANCE?!?!?!!?
oh heck yeah
also while i’m here i’m just going to also say that the premise looks awesome
I live in the UK, and it’s been raining every day this week. If you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy these atmospheric books to read while you’re curled up in your warm bed, it’s dark outside, and the rain and wind are tapping against your window. (ig: @allie.writes)
Spoiler Alert: Enemies-to-lovers (but it’s hard to tell if they’re lovers), slow burn (literal burns in a chimney flue), 135k (what a thick little man).
Back by Popular Demand! Megan O'Russell’s Young-Adult Coming-Of-Age fantasyThe Girl Without Magic is on sale for 99 Cents from November 3 - 12 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078WY9W7K
Jordan Elizabeth’s Young-Adult fantasy ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW is on sale for 99 Cents; October 28 - November 3. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OWAZ5T0
I absolutely hate it when character a is clearly in love with and willing to kill for character b, but character b is like, nah he doesn’t love me. Like bitch, yes he does! How can you be so stupid?!
And what’s worse is when character a is like I don’t deserve character b’s love. When they’re like my past sins make me unworthy. Haha. No. She’s been talking about your abs, the curve of your jaw, and the glint in your eye for the last 300 pages. You really think she cares about your tragic past?
I absolutely hate it when character a is clearly in love with and willing to kill for character b, but character b is like, nah he doesn’t love me. Like bitch, yes he does! How can you be so stupid?!
I don’t understand why it’s so hard for authors to write a boy best friend character who’s only that. Why does he always have to end up falling for the main girl?
