Tag: fantasy books

Reviews

Legends & Lattes Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Legends & Lattes Review

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.

We are definitely thrown straight into this story with Viv coming to this new town and starting the preparations to open her shop. I love how we are juxtaposed with this hulking ork that could kill you in two swings of her sword and wanting to become essentially a barista. She is driven and highly committed to her task and watching her achieve her goal gave me all the warm feels!

Tandri was a great inclusion to the shop and she was a great contrast to Viv. She is definitely more direct and takes control quite well. The slow burn of their romance was soo well done and the evolution from their friendship to something more was just too wholesome and endearing.

All of the other characters in this book all had a purpose and were mostly distinct though not all were that fleshed out. But being as this is just a slice of life kind of book that didn’t bother me at all. The stakes were very low but there was still an underlying mystery that was woven throughout which defintely keeps you entertained and engaged throughout the read.

⭐️4/5 stars The coziest fantasy you will ever read!

Reviews

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches Review

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

I enjoyed Mika as our main protagonist. She is inquisitive, she asks questions about the situation and even though she feels like she is in over her head she doesn’t give up and really tries for the girls. I liked the witchy elements through in, like gathering stardust in the middle of the night and casually mentioning the koi pond she has in her car. She continually questions Primrose why witches have been made to ostracize themselves from each other and doesn’t stick to the status quo.

Now with Jamie, I can understand why he is opposed to Mika coming but the outright rudeness I didn’t think was necessary. He could see just how much his averseness to her being there was affecting her potential relationship with Terracotta and yet didn’t change until something bad happened. In the end once he started coming around and opening up to Mika I was able to garner more affection for him.

All of the other characters were super distinctive and for the most part very wholesome. I loved how Ian kept trying to push Mika and Jamie together even though they were both so against it for so long but he knew they were meant to be. The girls were precious, the teaching scenes between them and Mika really made me appreciate how much patience and understanding she has for them.

I liked the fact that the relationship between Mika and Jamie was a slower burn. They each have issues from their past that they have to overcome before they can see clearly that the person right in front of them might be the one. The way that they naturally progress from enemies to friends and then ultimately end up together was a joy to read.

⭐️4/5 stars this was super cute!

Book Lists

5 Fav Fantasy Stand Alones

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 5 Fav Fantasy Stand Alones

For the last couple of years I’ve been listing 5 of my favourite fantasy stand-alone books that I read in the year previous. So I figured I had to continue on and list 5 more for you all!

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Updates

🌌Cosmere Catch Up-date🌌

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 🌌Cosmere Catch Up-date🌌

*ALL MY UPDATES ARE GOING TO BE SPOILERY*

I just finished my first reread of The Final Empire! There are soooo many little details in this book that I have forgotten over the years so I am really glad I decided to reread this series as a whole. I don’t really remember my reaction after finishing The Final Empire the first time so I don’t know if I like the book any more or less. Right now I feel like I really enjoyed this book I didn’t absolutely love it as much as I thought I did, which is probably just the nostalgia. It was just very dense with a lot of strategizing and hiding around until the very end which felt kind of rushed and chaotic. I loved relearning everything about Allomancy and the mistborn as well as Feruchemy. I just wish that Kelsier didn’t have to martyr himself in order for the Skaa to rise up. I know that he has struggled since Mare died and came to terms with the fact that maybe she didn’t betray him but I wish we still had the opportunity to get to know him more.

Reviews

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries Review

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party–or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people. So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

I really enjoyed Emily as our main character. I think even though she is this academic genius she is still quite relatable in terms of her obliviousness and her inability to read other people. I think she could of done a better job trying to warm up to the townsfolk since she was a visitor and encroaching on their lives for months but I did think it was a little cruel of them to withhold their hospitality because of one little faux pas. Emily definitely has the tendency to jump into situations without a lot of thought and puts herself sometimes unnecessarily in danger but I can’t really fault her because this is why she came.

I did take me a minute to warm up to Wendell because I didn’t quite know the reasons behind him coming and wanting to help Emily. I thought at first he might be coming to undermine her and steal all her findings (which she herself believes) but as we learn more about him and discover that perhaps he isn’t what he has claimed to be I did become a lot more invested. I kind of wish we could of explored his relationship with Emily a little more and see them actually be a couple.

Normally books revolving around faeries don’t interest me but this kind of fae adjacent book was a nice compromise for me. This did have kind of a slower start and didn’t really pick up until around the half way point of the book. This just felt like a whimsical folk tale that didn’t shy away from getting a bit dark which I wasn’t really expecting. We learn a lot about the lore and the rules around dealing with the fae and the ruthlessness of their behavior mixed with the careless way they view humans.

⭐️4/5 stars Pleasantly surprised, this was great!