Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Empirium #1

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: May 22nd, 2018

Pages: 512

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Review // Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Pandava Quartet #1

Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents

Publication Date: March 27th, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Netgalley

Format: eARC

Pages: 368

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur?

One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.

But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them.

The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?

Aru Shah and the End of Time is a story about Aru Shah, a twelve-year-old girl who lights a cursed lamp in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture to impress several of her classmates and ends up awakening a demon who wishes to bring about the end of time.

She also learns that she is one of the reincarnated souls of one of the five Pandava brothers of legend. She has to meet up with one of the other Pandavas and try to stop the Sleeper from stopping time.

Aru Shah and the End of Time is exactly what I would expect from Roshani Chokshi. It has the same beautiful writing style as her previous books, but with characters that are possibly quirkier and funnier.

Aru was a fun main character. She seems to tell a lot of lies, but I think a lot of them are highly exaggerated slivers of the truth. I thought it was funny that she got stuck going on this adventure in a pair of Spider-Man pajamas.

Mini is the other reincarnated Pandava brother that goes on this journey with Aru. She was kind of like Aru's opposite. Where Aru seemed more confident in herself, Mini was more quietly brave. She expected the worst of everything, but when the need arose, she really stepped up.

I really liked the bond that Aru and Mini had. They started off as total strangers and really ended up as sisters in the end. I loved seeing them work together and try to defeat the Sleeper together.

So, I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, it was funny, it was cute. I kinda loved it. It had a bit of a twist in it that I didn't see coming and I am looking forward to seeing how it goes in the rest of the series!

If you are a fan of Roshani Chokshi's previous books, funny characters, and wonderful friendships, you will almost definitely like this book!

Have you read this one yet? Are you looking forward to it?

Waiting on Wednesday // Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Ash Princess Trilogy #1

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: April 24th, 2018

Pages: 432

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Queen of Flame and Fury, was murdered before her eyes. Ten years later, Theo has learned to survive under the relentless abuse of the Kaiser and his court as the ridiculed “Ash Princess.” Pretending to be empty-headed and naive when she's not enduring brutal whippings, she pushes down all other thoughts but one: Keep the Kaiser happy and he will keep you safe.

When the Kaiser forces her to execute her last hope of rescue, Theo can't keep her feelings and memories pushed down any longer. She vows revenge, throwing herself into a plot to seduce and murder the Kaiser's warrior son with the help of a group of magically gifted and volatile rebels. But Theo doesn't expect to develop feelings for the Prinz. Or for her rebel allies to challenge her friendship with the one person who's been kind to her throughout the last hopeless decade: her heart's sister, Cress.

Cornered into impossible choices and unable to trust even those who are on her side, Theo will have to decide how far she's willing to go to save her people and how much of herself she's willing to sacrifice to become queen.

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Review // Of Dreams and Rust by Sarah Fine

Of Dreams and Rust by Sarah Fine

Of Metal and Wishes #2

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Publication Date: August 4th, 2015

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 320

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Summary (from Goodreads):

War erupts in this bittersweet sequel to "Of Metal and Wishes", inspired by The Phantom of the Opera and called “relentlessly engrossing” by The Romantic Times.

In the year since the collapse of the slaughterhouse where Wen worked as her father’s medical assistant, she’s held all her secrets close. She works in the clinic at the weapons factory and sneaks away to nurse Bo, once the Ghost, now a boy determined to transform himself into a living machine. Their strange, fragile friendship soothes some of the ache of missing Melik, the strong-willed Noor who walked away from Wen all those months ago—but it can’t quell her fears for him.

The Noor are waging a rebellion in the west. When she overhears plans to crush Melik’s people with the powerful war machines created at the factory, Wen makes the painful decision to leave behind all she has known—including Bo—to warn them. But the farther she journeys into the warzone, the more confusing things become. A year of brutality seems to have changed Melik, and Wen has a decision to make about him and his people: How much is she willing to sacrifice to save them from complete annihilation?

So, Of Dreams and Rust takes place about a year (I think?) after the events of the first book. I did enjoy this book more than I enjoyed the first book, but as I am writing this review, I can only think of the things I didn't like. I think I could have liked this book a lot more if it hadn't went into the first book so blindly.

I really don't even think that this post is a review so much as a discussion of the things about this book that I didn't like, but I will try to say some review-y things as well. Also, this is your warning, that I didn't really try hard to avoid spoilers.

So, Wen and her father are working in the clinic of the Gochan Two factory after the Gochan One factory was destroyed at the end of the first book. Melik has gone back to his people and Wen has been spending a lot of time with Bo, the "ghost" of the old factory. He's healing from his injuries in the last book and seems to be dead set on turning what little human parts are left of him into machine parts.

One day, Wen finds out the factory she works in is upping their production of war machines to crush the Noor rebellion. Wen runs away to go warn Melik of what is to come. Because the Itanyai are going to be totally ruthless and probably just kill everyone.

When the train that Wen is on gets blown up by Melik's rebel group and she and the mostly unharmed Itanyai soldiers are taken hostage and the ones too injured to travel are killed, Wen really starts to question whether or not she should reveal what she knows to the Noor.

Okay, so I can think of three things about this book that I didn't like or that annoyed me. One of them was resolved in an understandable fashion in the story. The main thing that bothered me was the conflict that Wen was having with herself over revealing the information she had about the war machines.

Okay, so... Wen left everything behind to go find this man that she loves to warn him that her people are coming with weapons of mass destruction to demolish his people. For no reason. Because the Itanyai look at the Noor as less than animals. They don't even seem like they consider them actual people. And the Noor are only rebelling because they want a say in the government that rules them and they want to be able to own the land that they work. They want to be seen as equals to the Itanyai. Which shouldn't be that much to ask, but considering the Itanyai are AWFUL, it's apparently not gonna happen.

And Wen gets there and gets taken hostage and sees how the rebels are killing her people (who were on their way to where the Noor were to kill THEIR people), and she decides that she's not going to share the information she has. She is so butthurt that Melik is involved in a group that is fighting for his peoples' rights and is defending his people from outsiders that are coming to kill them for no real reason, that she's just going to let it happen.

She knows that the Itanyai soldiers that were killed were on their way to the Noor to kill innocent men, women, and children for no justifiable reason. And she knows that there was probably nothing that she could say to persuade them to not go kill people for no justifiable reason. So she's going to let it happen because the man she loves is a soldier now, trying to defend his people, the people that HER people want to kill for kicks and giggles.

Like, she leaves the Ring because she knows that war machines are going to slaughter innocent people and she believes that's wrong. She grew to see the Noor as actual people and love one of them and care for others. But the second they defend themselves from that slaughter, it's unforgivable. How dare they kill the people that were on their way to kill their people? How dare they save their women and children from HER people who are plotting to come in with machines that they could never hope to defend themselves against?

So she's just gonna zip her lip and let it happen. I think she even resigned herself to the fact that she was probably going to die too. I could be wrong about that, but I think she did. But then she gets to a village and sees the innocent people that WILL die by these machines and decides, yeah, okay, I'll spill.

That part made me so rage-y. I literally could not understand the back and forth she was having there. She knows her people are in the wrong. I really generally liked Wen in the first book, but this REALLY brought down my opinion of her. She doesn't even act like she really even likes her own people, but defending innocent people against murderers was OVER THE LINE.

After that, things did go a bit uphill for me. But I really think that whole part tainted my general opinion of this book.

The next thing that bugged me was the thing that was fixed in the story. Wen gets brought before the Noor general or whatever and tells her story and he doesn't believe her. He sentences her to death and  she gets taken away to a cell and Melik just watches her go. He doesn't really say anything. He doesn't argue or fight for her that I remember. And I was just sitting there thinking about how HARD Wen fought her own people for him in the first book. She didn't care about her reputation really, she did everything she could to help him, every chance she got!

And this was quickly taken care of when Melik broke her out of her cell and took her to safety in his home village. And I can understand why it happened the way it did. I was probably still seeing red from the last thing that annoyed me.

The last thing that I can think of that really bothered me happened when Wen and Melik and the rest of the Noor men from Melik's village arrive back home. No one was happy to see an Itanyai person and so Melik did the only thing he could think of to keep her there and make people accept her. He claimed her as his wife. He didn't discuss this with her beforehand. The situation wasn't so heated or dire that he couldn't have run it past her real quick. And the gesture of claiming your wife wasn't something she was familiar with so she didn't even know what he did until someone else told her.

Like, I don't have any doubt that she would have been fine with it had she known what was going on, but it just rubbed me the wrong way that he didn't even consult her when the situation wasn't one where there was super immediate danger for her (as far as I remember, it's been like two weeks since I read this, I could be wrong here, but I don't think I am).

And that is really all of the problems I had with the book. I mean, I didn't really like Bo. At all. He acts like he has some say in Wen's life and tries to order her around and acts like she somehow belongs to him and I really kind of hated him for it. And I hate that this book ended up making me care about him even a little bit in the end. But okay, that is for real the last thing about this book that I didn't like.

I thought the war and the war preparations were interesting. I liked seeing how Wen fit in with the village after arriving. I liked Melik's family. I loved how brave Wen was, marching into war with the rest of the Noor. She made her own medicine pack so that she could apply first aid where it was needed. She had to make some hard decisions on who she could save and who was beyond her help. I liked seeing Wen and Melik fall back in love and seeing their relationship grow. I loved how Melik treated her and how he understood that if she wanted to leave after all of this was over, it was fine.

This book had some high stakes and there were some heartbreaking moments and some rage-inducing ones, but overall, I did enjoy this book. I doubt you will believe me from reading this review because I mostly talked about what I hated, but that was not really that much of the book and the rest of the book was a lot better and more interesting. Not to mention, with Wen traveling to find Melik, the world expanded so much. It felt SO MUCH bigger, which was a problem that I had with the first book.

Have you read this series? What did you think of it? Did you have any of the same problems as I had?

Waiting on Wednesday // Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

The Shadow Game #1

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: April 10th, 2018

Pages: 400

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets…

and secrets hide in every shadow.

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems. 

Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city…

And she’ll need to play.

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Review // Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

Of Metal and Wishes #1

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Publication Date: August 5th, 2014

Rating: 3 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 321

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Summary (from Goodreads):

There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.

Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her... for a very long time.

As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her... and she might go down with it.

Of Metal and Wishes was a series that I picked up, probably like 90% because I remembered reading a review of the second book and I thought that it sounded really interesting. I honestly don't think that I ever looked up what the first book was about.

I probably would have liked this book better if I had read the synopsis and knew what it was actually about, but I went into this book pretty blind and I don't think that my reading experience benefitted from it in this particular case.

This book is kind of a steampunk retelling of Phantom of the Opera. The main character, Wen, lives in the Gochan One slaughterhouse factory that is "haunted" by the ghost of a factory worker that died on the job. There is an altar in the factory where workers leave offerings with little notes detailing their wishes and the ghost will grant wishes if it's within his power.

This book takes place during the busy season so the factory has just hired on a group of Noor boys and men. The Noor are like... another race or something, they're somehow different from the Itanyai, which is what Wen and the rest of the factory workers are. But the Itanyai really look down on the Noor as being less than human. They just want to make enough money to live and to send some home to their families, but with the way the factory bosses do things, that really isn't going to happen.

There is an accident in the factory involving a Noor boy that humiliated Wen in the cafeteria. The incident was brought about by a challenge that Wen issued to the ghost because she truly didn't believe in him. This accident brings Wen closer to the Noor and she ends up falling for the leader of the Noor, Melik.

So, the most notable thing about this book that I have to say is that I HATED the setting. The world feels so incredibly small in this book. The majority of the book takes place in the Gochan One factory and a little bit of it takes place in the Ring, which is like the group of businesses and houses just outside the factory. It literally doesn't feel like there is any world at all outside of the Ring. And I really just can't get over how much I hated the slaughterhouse factory setting.

The people in this book are awful too. I liked the Noor, and Wen and her father. And that's about it. I didn't like the ghost. I didn't like any of the Itanyai people. And I mean, honestly, I think that's the correct thing to take away from this book?? The Itanyai are awful to the Noor because of how they view them as less. They're also awful to women. They kind of act like their women need to be pure, but once they no longer are, they're like.... free game to whoever wants them? I would definitely say there should probably be a trigger warning for rape in this book. There isn't any ACTUAL rape, but there is at least one scene where some men try to take advantage of Wen because her relationship with Melik is out in the open and her reputation is 'ruined'. And it's gross.

Probably the only thing I liked about this book was seeing Wen's relationships bloom. Her relationship with her father. Her relationship with the Noor. And especially her relationship with Melik. Wen looks at the Noor the same as the rest of the Itanyai do in the beginning. Her views change after the accident that happened after her challenge to the ghost. She definitely blames herself and she ends up spending a lot of time with the Noor taking care of them when they're sick because her father is the doctor and she's kind of his unofficial assistant.

This is how she starts to get close to Melik. And they go through SO much in this book. There is literally something going wrong at every turn. Sometimes from the ghost. Sometimes from the Itanyai people. Sometimes it's one of those things where Wen sees something and immediately and vehemently believes the worst of Melik. Even though at the point that I'm thinking of, they barely know each other.

But by the end of this book, they definitely deserve to be together because of all the hardships they went through and how hard they fought for each other. I loved it. I loved them. And I hated the ending of this book because, of course, they get separated.

Overall, this book was mostly meh for me. It was a quick read, I read most of it in one day. The setting and people left a lot to be desired from this book, but the romance 100% saved this book for me. I don't know if I would actually recommend this book though. I mean, if you're a die hard Phantom of the Opera fan or you like steampunk stuff, maybe you'd like it.

Have you read Of Metal and Wishes? What did you think of it?

Waiting on Wednesday // Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Publication Date: April 24th, 2018

Pages: 352

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Summary (from Goodreads):

OND ELDR. BREATHE FIRE.

Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.

Faced with her brother's betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.

She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Monthly Wrap Up // February 2018

Hello everyone! Can you believe it's already March? I can't!

Anyway, since I never ended up doing a wrap up for January, I'm also going to mention what books I read way back then. My goal for this year is to read 75 books. To hit that, I need to read 6.25 books per month, so I am aiming for about 6 books per month.

In January, I did not hit that little goal, but I made up for it in February! Also, I am counting DNFs toward my goal because I read as much of the book as I am going to!

READ

So here is what I read in January:

          

1. Spy on History: Victor Down and the World War II Ghost Army by Enigma Alberti and Scott Wegener // Review + A Glimpse Back in Time

2. Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking // DNF Review

3. Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp // Review

     

4. Shadowsong by S. Jae Jones // DNF

5. The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows // Re-read

Favorite of the month: The Orphan Queen

Least favorite (excluding DNFs): Before I Let Go

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Read in February:

          

1. Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia // Review

2. The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows // Review

3. The Cruel Prince // Review

          

4. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco // Re-read

5. The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco // Review

6. Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine // Review to come

7. Of Dreams and Rust by Sarah Fine // Review to come

Favorite of the month: THE HEART FORGER (!!!)

Least favorite of the month: Of Metal and Wishes

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Book Haul

I feel like I lack self control so I have acquired quite a few books in the last couple months... Oops. Sorry, wallet.

January:

1. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

2. Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

3. In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

4. Through the Dark by Alexandra Bracken

^^ These were the new covers!

5. Frost Like Night by Sara Raasch

6. The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

7. Here We Are by Kelly Jensen

8. Fairest of Them All by Carolyn Turgeon

9. Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst

10. Fate of the Tearling by Ericka Johansen

^^ These were from Book Outlet.

11. Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

12. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

13. Sailor Moon vol. 2 by Naoko Takeuchi

^^ These were from a Barnes and Noble excursion.

14. Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking

^^ This was from the publisher.

February:

1. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

2. Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows

^^ These were from #booksfortrade!

3. Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

^^ These were from Alyssa, my round 7 secret sister!

5. The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

6. Orange by Ichigo Takano

7. Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosada, Yuu

^^ These were from another Barnes and Noble excursion.

8. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

^^ This was the Owlcrate Exclusive edition.

9. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

^^This was because I loved it so much and needed a physical hardcover.

10. Legend of Zelda: Legendary Edition, Vol 2: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages by Akira Himekawa

^^This one was from my round 8 secret sister!

11. The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

^^ This was an extra copy from a LitJoy Crate I got.

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On the Blog

In the last couple months, I have posted a few interesting things besides the reviews I mentioned above!

January:

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert Review

Favorites of 2017

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo Review

Disappointments of 2017

2017 Books I Haven't Gotten To Yet

Anticipated Books of 2018

February:

Things That Will Make Me Pick Up Almost Any Book

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You may have noticed that I also started a Booktube channel in February! I only have a few videos so far, but if you're interested, I have posted:

New to Booktube Tag

My Alexandra Bracken Collection

LitJoy Crate Unboxing

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March TBR

These are the books that I am hoping to read in March!

1. Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

2. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

3. Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

4. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

5. The Rose and the Dagger by Renée Ahdieh

6. Orange by Ichigo Takano

7. Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki by Mamoru Hosada

8. Sailor Moon vol. 2 by Naoko Takeuchi

9. Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages by Akira Himekawa

The last four are for the Manga Madness Readathon at the end of the month. They have two options. One is to follow a bingo board with challenges and the other is to just read whatever. I will definitely be doing option two because these are the only four unread mangas I have at this time.

---

Life Stuff

So, I guess nothing super exciting has happened in the last couple months here. We had a group of early calving heifers that had their calves in the last week of February. They're basically done by now. But it's always fun to have little baby calves running around! I might put some fun footage of them in one of my booktube videos one day.

Besides that, I have finished all of the DLC in Breath of the Wild. I think I have like 150 korok seeds left to find and a couple of outfits left to level up before I'm ready to defeat Ganon. Because I think that's literally all that I have left to do in the whole game.

I started playing Stardew Valley. I played that like, nonstop for two weeks and now I'm slowly working on building up all of my friendships. I played it so much right away because I REALLY wanted to marry Harvey. Now I'm married and have a baby and am on year three. I even went out and bought myself a fun pink xbox controller to play with!

I still need to come up with a gamertag for my xbox account. Because unhorsedgem### isn't going to work for me. But I can't think of anything good! I'm half tempted to just use my blog name, but I don't know if I want to. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

The one friend I had at work doesn't work there anymore. He just kind of stopped showing up. It makes me sad because he was fun to talk to. But also I was sad because I had let him borrow six of my amiibos and I wasn't sure how I was going to get them back. But someone else from work is kind of friends with him, I think and got them for me. I was so pumped. That was like $100 worth of them and I wasn't sure how I was going to get them back because I didn't know how to get ahold of him.

I have been watching a lot of anime with my sister. We have watched Erased, Your Name, Forest of Firefly Lights, and now we started Your Lie in April. I am going to have to finish that one by myself because there just wasn't enough time when I was home. Which is fine because she claims I'm going to ugly cry and I think I'd rather do that alone. I like the show, but I think it's kind of dramatic for me.

Like I said, pretty uneventful over here. So I guess I'll quit rambling now!

How was February for you? What was your favorite book you read?

Review // The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

The Bone Witch #2

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: March 20th, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: #booksfortrade

Format: ARC

Pages: 400

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Summary (from Goodreads):

In The Bone Witch, Tea mastered resurrection―now she's after revenge...

No one knows death like Tea. A bone witch who can resurrect the dead, she has the power to take life...and return it. And she is done with her self-imposed exile. Her heart is set on vengeance, and she now possesses all she needs to command the mighty daeva. With the help of these terrifying beasts, she can finally enact revenge against the royals who wronged her―and took the life of her one true love.

But there are those who plot against her, those who would use Tea's dark power for their own nefarious ends. Because you can't kill someone who can never die...

War is brewing among the kingdoms, and when dark magic is at play, no one is safe.

Bear with me as I struggle through this review. I am not entirely positive that I have good enough words to describe how I felt about this book.

The Heart Forger is told in the same way as The Bone Witch was. There is the present day point of view of the bard who is following Tea around while she takes care of business. And then the flashback portions where Tea is telling her story to the bard.

I was so enthralled by this book. I think that this one might be better than the first one. If only because it felt to me like it had more action. The story takes place over a shorter amount of time and focuses less on lessons and parties and learning the basics of being an asha.

Tea has now taken over Lady Mykaela's job of putting down daeva because she has grown far too weak to do it herself. She can't even leave Odalia because the nearness to her still missing heartsglass is what is keeping her going at all.

The plot of this book surrounds the Faceless going after the the direct descendants of the Five Great Heroes with their sleeping sickness. Prince Kance is the last to fall to the sleeping sickness and the old heart forger has figured out a cure, but has also mysteriously gone off the radar after going to Daanoris.

So the part of this book that is Tea's story basically is their journey to Daanoris to find the heart forger and save Prince Kance. And the present part of this story, if you recall from the end of the last book what she was off to do, was to overthrow Daanoris.

So what did I love about this book? First of all, the characters. This book definitely contains squad goals. Tea, Kalen, Fox, Zoya, Shadi, Inessa, Likh, and Khalad all go to Daanoris to find the old heart forger. I really liked this whole little group! I liked how they worked together and trusted each other. They were all just so fun to read about! I love them.

I loved the romance in this book as well. I love Tea and Kalen together. This book kinda tells you where in the first book they started falling for each other and now I want to go read The Bone Witch AGAIN just so I can see if I can tell. This is a book where pretty much everyone ends up kind of paired up, but I liked all the pairings! There is an m/m pairing and also an f/f one.

I need the conclusion to this series SO BADLY (I'm assuming it's a trilogy??) to find out what Tea did to find herself in the situation she is in. Because whatever it is, I'm positive that she is being framed or something because I feel like she hasn't done anything bad so far that wasn't called for or justified or somehow excusable.

Ooh! I loved the azi too! I thought the connection that Tea had with it was so cool. I thought the other daeva were cool too in the bard's point of view, but the azi was definitely the coolest.

This book is faster than the first one, it has more action, it has squad goals, it's got a little bit of heartbreak thrown in at the end, and this book ends in much the same way as the first one. Basically, Tea is leading her daeva on to another kingdom that she's got beef with and we still don't know what happened to Kalen.

I would definitely recommend this series if you're looking for books with necromancy, politics, magic, and did I mention SQUAD GOALS?!

Have you read The Bone Witch? Are you looking forward to this sequel?