Review | Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

March 28, 2024March 28, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology.

In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. An unwanted marriage, a painful illness, and unpaid debt … gone. But as with all things that promise the moon and the stars and offer hope when hope has gone, the tale comes with a warning.

Every wish demands a price.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.

Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time – hope.

But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.

I absolutely loved this one. Anytime there’s mythology thrown in that’s a buzzword for me and this one did not disappoint. It’s filled with rich descriptions, a very unique main character and more. As I said anything mythology will draw me in and when it’s a mythology that may not be commonplace/known as widely I enjoy it even more. The writing style was easy to read and engaging and honestly once I got into this one I had a hard time putting it down. Also, if you’re looking for a dragon book that may not be the typical dragon book, definitely pick this one up!

Happy reading!

Blog Tour | May’s Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja | Review

March 27, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Maya Mirza’s unlucky-in-love past seems to be turning around when she ends up in an arranged marriage to the on-paper perfect man. But as she heads to her wedding in Pakistan, she finally meets the man of her dreams—and what could be more unlucky than that?

Murphy’s Law is simple: anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and no one knows that better than Maya Mirza.

Maya Mirza has always been unlucky in love. When she was in grade one, one of the mean girls told her crush that she liked him and he loudly proclaimed he hated her because she had cooties. When she was in grade six, she wrote her new crush an anonymous love letter, only to realize later she signed her name without realizing it. In grade twelve, she gathered the courage to ask out her crush, only to hurl all over him. Bottom line—romance sucks.

However, it seems like Maya’s luck may finally be turning up when she secures a marriage proposal from Imtiaz Porter. Imtiaz has everything—good family, great job, charming personality; everything, except Maya’s heart. But that’s okay. Love can grow after marriage, right?

Just when Maya thinks she’s finally broken her curse, it all comes crashing down when she gets on a plane to go to Pakistan for her wedding and ends up sitting next to Sarfaraz, a cynical divorce lawyer who clashes with her at every possible turn. When an unexpected storm interrupts her travel plans, Maya finds herself briefly stranded in Switzerland, and despite their initial misstep, she and Sarfaraz agree to stick together until they reach Pakistan.

Over the several days they travel together, disaster after disaster happens, from their bus crashing to having to travel on foot to getting mugged. However, the more time they spend together, the more Maya realizes she and Sarfaraz may have more in common than she thought. But of course, this is when she realizes her unlucky in love curse will always be with her—because how unlucky is it that she may have finally met the man of her dreams while on her way to her own wedding?

BUY LINKS | HarperCollins | Bookshop.org | B&N | Amazon

If you’re looking for a cute and fun romcom that is clean, with lots of cultural influence thrown in, this is a good debut to pick up. I found it to be really fun though some of the pacing throughout the story didn’t feel completely smooth. There were certainly some things that happened that weren’t entirely believable, but it was still a cute read and a fun time. I think with some real work on pacing this could have been a super quick read for me and besides that the writing style was easy to read and consume. For a debut I felt like this is a great start and would look forward to seeing what else the author had in the future.

Alina Khawaja is an author from Ontario, Canada, with a never-ending love-hate relationship with the snow. She is a graduate from the University of Toronto, where she majored in English and double minored in History and Creative Writing, and is now pursuing a Master’s degree in the Literacy of Modernity at Ryerson University. Alina can be found studying, writing, or bingeing k-dramas when she is not sleeping.

SOCIAL LINKS | Author website | Instagram |Twitter

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Review | Before the Coffee Gets Gold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

March 16, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Down a small alleyway in the heart of Tokyo, there’s an underground café that’s been serving carefully brewed coffee for over a hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers its customers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time.

The rules, however, are far from simple: you must sit in one particular seat, and you can’t venture outside the café, nor can you change the present. And, most important, you only have the time it takes to drink a hot cup of coffee—or risk getting stuck forever.

Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of traveling to another time: a heartbroken lover looking for closure, a nurse with a mysterious letter from her husband, a waitress hoping to say one last goodbye and a mother whose child she may never get the chance to know.

Heartwarming, wistful and delightfully quirky, Before the Coffee Gets Cold explores the intersecting lives of four women who come together in one extraordinary café, where the service may not be quick, but the opportunities are endless.

I cannot really express how much I loved reading this book, while also having my heart ripped out. I loved the little vignettes/stories and how each one featured both familiar and new characters. The regulars at the café are people we get to know pretty well over the course of the book, but there are also still some mysteries. I loved the premise of how the café’s time travel worked and the fact that nothing anyone did in the past could affect the present. The writing itself is beautiful and lyrical, honestly this book was like a warm hug at times, but also will make you cry. I can’t wait to dive into the following books to see what may happen to the characters in the future.

Happy reading!

Review | The Jump by Brittney Morris

March 11, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

From the acclaimed author of SLAY and The Cost of Knowing comes an action-driven, high-octane “thrill ride” ( Kirkus Reviews ) about a group of working-class teens in Seattle who join a dangerous scavenger hunt with a prize that can save their families and community.

Influence is power. Power creates change. And change is exactly what Team Jericho needs.

Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han are the four cornerstones of Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in all of Seattle. Each has their own Jax, the puzzler; Yas, the parkourist; Spider, the hacker; and Han, the cartographer. But now with an oil refinery being built right in their backyard, each also has their own problems. Their families are at risk of losing their jobs, their communities, and their homes.

So when The Order, a mysterious vigilante organization, hijacks the scavenger hunting forum and concocts a puzzle of its own, promising a reward of influence, Team Jericho sees it as the chance of a lifetime. If they win this game, they could change their families’ fates and save the city they love so much. But with an opposing team hot on their heels, it’s going to take more than street smarts to outwit their rivals.

Goodreads | Amazon

A book about a mysterious scavenger hunt taking four friends all over the Seattle area, while also delving into their own problems, worries and lives? Yes please. This was not only a fun read, but really delved deep into a lot of real world issues while keeping the story moving. There’s talks of racism, diversity, gentrification and more in chapters told from the perspective of the four members of Team Jericho – Jax, Yas, Han and Spider. There’s typical moments of fractures between friends when there are disagreements or worries about each other, but also banding together to protect each other as they delve deeper into the clues and missions that are being handed out on the scavenger hunt forum. At the root are teenagers struggling to find their place while also caring about those they love, and their loved ones very real worries as well. It’s a fantastic read with a lot of fun elements but also real deep issues that are discussed.

Happy reading!

Review | The Boyfriend Wish by Swati Teerdhala

March 3, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

A charming romantic comedy about a South Indian American teen girl who makes a wish upon a flower for her perfect boyfriend…and then a new boy moves in right next door. With love triangles, prank wars, and a sizzling sweet romance—this is perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon and Jenny Han.

Deepa’s a hopeless romantic. And even though Deepa’s checklist for the perfect boyfriend is a mile long, her mom and dad’s fairy-tale love story makes her feel like romantic success ought to be a family trait. It’s why when her grandmother gives her a jasmine flower with the promise that it will fulfill her heart’s greatest desire, and then a new boy moves in across the street, Deepa knows—he must be her wish come true.

Rohit checks off every box on Deepa’s timelessly handsome, a thoughtful listener, and a romantic who knows his flowers. Deepa’s next-door neighbor (and constant tormentor) Vik also surprisingly approves, though she knows it shouldn’t be a mark against Rohit.

Is it luck or is it magic? Deepa doesn’t want to take chances, so when her grandmother warns her that the wish is only permanent if she seals it with a kiss, she knows she needs to move quickly. Rohit is the right boy in every way, so then why does Deepa not feel like he might not be the right choice?

If you are looking for a cute rom com, then this one should definitely be on your list. Deepa was a wonderful main character, she felt so authentic in her relationships and feelings and that kind of awareness was great to see. Vik and Rohit were great characters as well, but I really enjoyed Deepa overall. Looking at Teerdhala’s other books it looks like this is her first foray into contemporary YA and it was a great one to start with in my opinion. Her writing style was easy to read and kept the story moving, which makes me definitely want to look into her other books.

Happy reading!

Review | Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo

February 29, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

A tightly woven blend of myth, magic, and the ties of a found family.

Ghosts that speak in smoke. Spirits with teeth like glass. A parasitic, soul-eating spirit worm has gone into a feeding frenzy, but all the Jong-ro Police Department’s violent crimes unit sees is a string of suicides. Except for Kim Han-gil, Seoul’s only spirit detective. He’s seen this before. He’ll do anything to stop another tragedy from happening, even if that means teaming up with Shin Yoonhae, the man Han-gil believes is responsible for the horrifying aftermath of his mother’s last exorcism.

In their debut novella, Sam Kyung Yoo weaves a tale of mystical proportions that’s part crime-thriller, part urban fantasy.

I won’t lie, I was initially interested in this one because it was centered in Korea and then was even more drawn in when I read the synopsis and learned that it followed a detective who also deals in the supernatural and is on the hunt for a specific type of spirit that they have been following for years. There is a lot of talk about Spiritualism in both Kora and Japan, especially when Han-Gil internally reflects on his memories of his mother and goes searching for those who might have information regarding the person he suspects is the current victim of the spirit.

I was immediately sucked in and found a lot of the descriptions very well fleshed out. There were some passages, especially when Han-Gil or other characters were being introspective. I did not expect the emotional depth and introspection that happens later in the book and found it really wonderful as Han-Gil especially finally processed some of the events of his past. All in all, I really enjoyed the adventure of this read and would definitely pick up any future books by this author.

Happy reading!

Blog Tour | A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian | Review

February 23, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER meets Stephen King in this character-driven thriller about a study group of six teenagers who witness something tragic in an abandoned mine, which comes back to haunt them 20 years later.

SIX CLASSMATES.

ONE TERRIFYING NIGHT.

A MURDER TWENTY YEARS IN THE MAKING…

There’s more to Wesley Falls than meets the eye, but for six high school students, it’s home.

Kelly, the new girl and rule-follower.

Maddy, the beauty and the church favorite.

Padma, the brains and all-A student.

Casey, the jock and football star.

James, the burnout and just trying to make it to graduation.

And Jia, the psychic, who can see the future.

When these six are assigned to work on a summer group project, their lives are forever changed. At an end of the year party in the abandoned mine, they witness a preventable tragedy, but no one will take them seriously. As things escalate, they realize the church, the police, and the town’s founders are all conspiring to cover up what happened. When James is targeted as the scapegoat, to avoid suspicion, they vow their silence and to never contact each other again. Their plan works – almost.

Twenty years later, Maddy is found murdered is Wesley Falls, and the remaining five are forced to confront their past and work together to finally put right what happened all those years ago. If they can survive…

BUY LINKS | Bookshop.org | Amazon | B&N

Do not let the complexity of the characters and plot of this one scare you, once you get through the beginning you may be sucked in like I was. I could not put this one down once I really got into it and had to know what was going to happen to each of the characters. It does have more of a slow burn vibe and is more character driven then plot driven, which I know may not appeal to everyone – for me it really worked. I really enjoyed the overall feel of the book, a wonderful mix of mystery, mystical and horror. I felt like all the characters felt unique and enjoyed seeing their paths throughout the story. I didn’t necessary love all of them, but still felt each was authentic. I would definitely read from this author again as I really enjoyed this one and liked the experience of seeing where it went.

Vera Kurian is a writer and scientist based in Washington DC. Her debut novel, NEVER SAW ME COMING (Park Row Books, 2021 was an Edgar Award nominee and was named one of the New York Times’ Best Thrillers of 2021. Her short fiction has been published in magazines such as Glimmer Train, Day One, and The Pinch. She has a PhD in Social Psychology, where she studied intergroup relations, ideology, and quantitative methods. She blogs irregularly about writing, horror movies and pop culture/terrible TV.

SOCIAL LINKS | Author website | IG | Twitter

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Review | The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught

February 19, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Author-artist Fern Haught weaves an enchanting, gentle fantasy tale of friendship, determination, and respecting nature in their debut graphic novel.

Juniper and Hadley have a good thing going in Larkspur, spending their respective days apprenticing at a little bakery and performing at the local inn. But when a stranger places an unusual order at the bakery, the two friends (and Hadley’s pet snake, Fern) set out on a journey to forage the magical mushrooms needed to make the requested galette pastries.

Along the way, Juniper and Hadley stumble across a mystery too compelling to ignore: Something has been coming out of the woods at night and eating the local farmers’ crops, leaving behind a trail of glowing goo. Intent on finally going on an adventure that could fuel their bardic craft, Hadley tows Juniper into the woods to investigate.

What started as a simple errand to pick mushrooms soon turns into a thrilling quest to save some furry new friends―and their caretaker, a soft-spoken little fey named Thistle―who are in danger of losing their home.

If you enjoy graphic novels such as The Tea Dragon Society and others that are similar, you will probably want to pick up this one. It’s exactly as described, a cozy fantasy adventure, and so wholesome and wonderful. I loved Juniper and Hadley’s little adventure and their misadventures, especially Hadley’s enthusiasm throughout. They played really well off of each other and were wonderful companions. The art style is whimsical and a joy to read, suiting the cozy world and characters that Fern Haught created. I’ll definitely be looking for more of their work in the future.

Happy reading!

Review | Before You Know It by S.K. Williams

February 18, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

Sometimes, beneath the weight of the world, we find ourselves drowning. Let this collection of poetry breathe life back into your lungs and remind you of everything that you’ve already overcome.

SK Williams dives back into their past with Before You Know It , a collection of poetry made up of two stories told in tandem, recalling the ages of 18 to 28, when the world laid waiting at their fingertips and the pressure of figuring everything out was never too far away.

Featuring four chapters, divided into two parts each— “In the Beginning,” “Uncharted Water,” “Beneath the Storm,” and “At the End” —this collection compares two peoples’ life experiences to one another and sees how similar we all really are. Through this book, Williams explores themes of youth, uncertainty, ambition, anxiety, depression, powerlessness, isolation, and body image.

At moments nostalgic, freeing, and youthful, and other times pushed down beneath the mounting pressure and responsibility of young adulthood, these two perspectives ask us to take a moment to appreciate how far we’ve come and to trust where life will take us.

Me and modern poetry aren’t always friends, so I always like to find new collections that I enjoy. This collection delves into a number of issues one might face when growing up and becoming an adult, navigating adult spaces. I enjoyed the writing styles of both perspectives, but I do wish that the different perspectives were better identified throughout the collection as I often found myself losing track of which perspective it was I was reading from. I did really enjoy the imagery and atmosphere created through the dual voices and found the talk of depression, anxiety, growth and learning who you are – plus talk about some of the struggles facing younger generations in the current day to be very raw and real, as well as relatable.

Happy reading!

Blog Tour | The Framed Woman of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace | Review

February 17, 2024 DeAnneLeave a comment

An abandoned English manor. A peculiar missing portrait. A cozy, deviously clever murder mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.

Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.

After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.

With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…

Buy Links | BookShop.org | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Books A Million

I’ve been in the mood for more mysteries and thrillers lately and this one really piqued my interest, so I was eager to grab it. Though the story itself started out pretty slow, it was hard not to get invested in Jo and her story. I found the mystery itself fun and interesting and really enjoyed how all the characters played off of each other in some ways. Each character had a good identity, which is hard to do – though Jo was by far my favorite character, her personality and character really shone through. The mystery itself was fun and I felt that the ending did a good job of wrapping everything up without any lingering questions. This was exactly the read I wanted.

Brandy Schillace, PhD, is a historian of medicine and the critically acclaimed author of Death’s Summer Coat: What Death and Dying Teach Us About Life and Living and Clockwork Futures: The Science of Steampunk. The editor-in-chief of the journal Medical Humanities, she previously worked as a professor of literature and in research and public engagement at the Dittrick Medical History Center and Museum. Brandy also hosts the Peculiar Book Club Podcast, a twice-monthly show.The Framed Women of Ardemore House, featuring an autistic protagonist caught at the center of a murder mystery, is her fiction debut. Brandy is also autistic, though has not (to her knowledge) been a suspect in a murder investigation. Find her at https://brandyschillace.com/

Happy reading!