leahrdswan's reviews
389 reviews

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

3.75

I love T. Kingfisher and plan to keep reading from them. 

This book is inspired by Goose Girl although my only interaction with the story is the Shannon Hale interpretation which is quite different than this one. 

This book follows our main character who is abused by her mother, though when her mother tricks a rich man to marry her, the mc asks the people who live in the estate to help her escape her mother's pull on her. 

Tapping into Love by Monica McCallan

3.25

This book was exactly what it promised and was exactly what I was looking for. 

If you want a small town, somewhat enemies to lovers, typical hallmark sapphic romance set during the fall, this book is perfect. 

I wouldn't say past that, this book was necessarily special and I didnt feel like the characters really stood out (although one of the mc was kind of annoying) but it does what it is set out to do.

The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night by Marjorie Liu

4.75

A horror book that was actually terrifying. Those doll's faces were absolutely haunting. 

In addition to the natural horror of the haunted house, there is also the horror of wondering whether their mom is evil or not as she leads her children into the hands of a demon. 

I loved the difference in the parent's personalities though and how golden retriever the dad was.

I like how this book also deals with not meeting parents expectations and immigration. This book was also set during covid which was interesting to see. 

Now that the twins know more about themselves

that they are half demon, half demon eaters

, it will be interesting to see where this will lead next.

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

4.0

This was a cute romance between a ghost writer who can see ghosts and her dead publisher. 

I like romance that has more depth and I think the fact that this is set after the death of the mc father, that we get to see more than just the romance and also a lot of complex thoughts on death and grief. 

I will say thank goodness he was in a coma and they can actually be together in the end

Lights by Brenna Thummler

4.0

A sweet conclusion to the series. In this, the main character is once again navigating friends.

At the end we see her make a friend group of her older friends and her nee friend despite their past. Im glad they apologized to each other. Also we see as the mc life becomes more balanced, she is able to depend less on wendell and he eventually goes back to the land of ghosts

I think this one didn't have as many deep themes as the other two, though we did get to see them investigate the death of wendell. I dont know if I was fully satisfied with the explanation of his death. 

As always though, the are is wonderful 

When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

2.0

I probably should have dnfed this book but I finished because it was an easy read. 

I think this book had a lot of potential, however, it was at least twice too long than it should have been and I don't think the fantasy elements were honestly super important to the book itself. Like it felt like fae and dragons were just thrown in there because its popular but genuinely didn't really have a big impact. The concept of the creators could have been cool if it were more developed. Like I still don't know what it means to hear a creator or why they veil. For being as long as this book was, you would have expected more depth but it just wasn't there. 

The characters were also pretty cookie cutter. The main character honestly annoyed me throughout the book. Her personality for the first half was only murder and anger which I don't mind in a character when it is better written and with more depth. 

This book could be you if you want a more stereotypical tropey fantasy story, but I personally wanted more from it.

It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth by Zoe Thorogood

4.75

I had to sit with this book for a bit to understand how I felt about it. 

Honestly while you are reading it, I seemed very random and I didn't quite understand what I was supposed to get from it (which was on purpose and was part of the book). However, I feel like it wrapped itself in the end and I also loved seeing how connected the novel was (such as seeing her draw pages for future pages in the book). 

This was a raw representation of what living with depression feels like and the need to fill yourself with purpose to dilute the depression. 

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

4.0

I liked the setting of this story a lot more than the first because I like bookshops. 

Honestly, I wish I had remembered more from the first book but I barely remembered anything. Still liked the interconnection from the first book in the epilogue.

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

4.25

Is this the best story ever? Maybe no but I ate it up. So much betrayal and plot twists. I was able to guess most of them but still was a lot of fun to read. 

I also liked the discussion about colonization.

Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens

4.0

You see the character's life when she fell for a boy and had his child. You also see her life as she is a ghost, and watched different women around her