This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie so I thought I would go back through my last couple of seasonal TBR’s (Autumn, Spring, Summer) and see which books I chose that I haven’t actually read yet, thus hopefully spurring me to pick them up!! Fingers crossed
☀️ Summer TBR☀️
🌸 Spring TBR🌼
🍂 Autumn TBR🍂
I accomplished all the goals I set for myself and completed some great books along the way! All of my ratings for the books will be in my monthly wrap up!
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
The Night Country by Melissa Albert
Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan
I ended up completing all of the reading challenges plus I collected a few of the extra badges along the way!
Into the Crooked Kingdom follows a girl named Tavia who sells dark magic on the streets for her Underboss Wesley. Until one day she uncovers a sinister plot that could detroy the whole realm and all the people in it.
I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. They were all very distinct and you could differentiate between them easily. All being from different parts of the realm and having such varying backgrounds was really intriguing and definitely brought more depth to the storyline.
Tavia was one of my favourites. I think because she essentially introduced us into the storyline I was more attached to her character in particular. Her love/hate relationship with Wesley was very entertaining, I kind of wish they would of acted on their feelings or maybe communicated a little bit better. Wesley for a minute there seemed open to that idea but Tavia shut him down and walked away. I think if we had a little more romance in the plot I would have been more engaged.
Unfortunately there were times throughout the book where I wasn’t all that interested in what was happening and didn’t really care. Although we are given pretty high stakes and there was definitely a lot of twists thrown in there were long periods of not a lot happening and it made me zone out a little.
I also wish we delved deeper into the magic system and how it works. We are kind of given a lot of information but I felt like it wasn’t enough. Maybe if we were given the origin of the world a little more and how the different charms work. How the Kingpin came to power in the first place or learning about the different people in the world would of helped. How the crafters came to be and how many different clans of the Kin there are.
I came out of this book a underwhelmed. I felt like the bones were there for a great fantasy story and there were elements I really loved. The found family, the intriguing magic system, an evil overlord they need to defeat, but it didn’t wow me in any way. I am still interested enough in the characters where I think I will be picking up the next book but it’s not something I’m dying to read.
⭐️3/5 stars Not gripping enough for me…
It’s been a while since I’ve done a book tag and I seen this one floating around the blogisphere so I thought why not give it a go!
The Night Country by Melissa Albert
Laying in bed playing my switch
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Catch up on all the TV series I have missed!
Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo
I tag everyone who would like to give this a go, it was a lot of fun!!
I LOVED this!!!!
The Shadows Between Us is about a girl named Alessandra who is the second daughter of an earl who has a plan to seduce, marry and then kill the elusive king.
I just adored Alessandra’s character. Right from the start when we find out what happened between her and Henrik and then to see how comfortable she has become with her sexuality and not letting the men in her life use her for their own gain. She takes her life into her own hands and emerges from under her father and sisters shadows and forged a life for herself without their help or influence. I love how ruthless she is and how unapologetic she is about her appearance and demeanour.
Kallias really drew me in from the moment we first see him. He is quite enigmatic and seductive in a way with the shadows swirling around him. I’m a sucker for a dark, broody male protagonist and he really ticked all the boxes for me. I would of loved to learn more about him and go a little more in depth in terms of his abilities and why the skipped over his brother. The origins of his family’s reign which was discussed briefly, I just wanted more. I think the fact that he wasn’t intimidated by Alessandra and saw her as an equal was the icing on the cake for me!
There was the perfect amount of political intrigue mixed with those more high action sequences to keep me engaged and entertained. Too much of the court politics and political machinations can be a little dragging for me but I didn’t get that at all in this book. Because Alessandra was so spontaneous and has all of these secrets she is trying to keep on top of there was never a time I wasn’t invested.
I have to admit the investigation aspect regarding Henrik was resolved a little too conveniently; there was quite the build-up of anticipation regarding the murder and it was dismissed by Kallias with really no repercussions of Alessandra’s part. I was able to overlook it and still really enjoy the read but that was something that I noticed.
Overall I loved this, from reading the blurb I knew immediately that this was a book that I would love and I am honestly gratified that I have such a thorough understanding of my reading tastes!
⭐️5/5 stars the Slytherin romance we didn’t know we needed!
Amy Leigh Reads 