petrichorlibrary's reviews
60 reviews

Enchantra by Kaylie Smith

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

UMBRA FAN CLUB 🤘🏻🦊🖤

In a shocking twist the surprises no one, Kaylie Smith has killed it once again!!! 

This was one of my most anticipated reads for this year because I loved Phantasma oh so dearly, I adore Kaylie’s writing so I knew I would absolutely eat this up and I was not disappointed for a second. 

The magic, the games, the 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 👀, and the drama had me flipping pages like a feral animal. I saw so much of myself in Genevieve’s stubborn brand of softness (little sisters know) and I always love a good marriage-for-show romance, but add in a tattooed shadow daddy with a lip ring who calls her “trouble” and says “she’s mine”??? i may never get off my knees for Rowin Silver. 

I loved getting to dive back into the world I loved so much in Phantasma but with new perspectives and new unhinged immortal generational beef channeled into homic🗡️dal games. The Silver family is my new obsession and I’m going to need so much more of them. Maybe if we all say pretty please Kaylie will write Sevin’s book next 🤭

Scarlight by Evie Marceau

adventurous emotional

5.0

Evie’s books never fail to give me butterflies (but the butterflies have 🗡️) 

She writes fantasy world building and slow burn forbidden romance like no other, and Scarlight is no exception. The vibes are immaculate, the hexmark magic system is really interesting and refreshingly unique, and the ANGST 😮‍💨 

Bryn’s whirlwind journey to the Baersladen with three striking royal brothers is nothing short of an absolute soap opera, and I loved watching her grow from spoiled princess to someone who will chase a missing lamb for weeks. Rangar is the morally gray possessive MMC of every fantasy girlie’s dreams (but he’s not my favorite Barendur brother 🤭🤭🤭) 

Ruins of Sea and Souls by Lisette Marshall

adventurous dark emotional

5.0

I actually don't know how I'm going to recover from this series. I fell down a rabbit hole with this one and truly don't want to come out.

We get more of allll my favorite things in book 3 - more of Em and Creon's addictively alluring relationship, more Underground, more rebellion and political intrigue, more revelations about this world and its crazy deep history. But there's also a ton of new and mind blowing developments that had me scrambling for the next book and SO relieved I didn't have to wait.

The emotional difficulties woven into the characters' struggles are so real, so relatable, so raw. There are some really powerful messages about withstanding generational trauma and battling mental health issues. Emelin and Creon's (and Lyn. and Tared. and Naxi. and EVERYONE) journey in this book is phenomenal. Watching them navigate their past wounds, their impossible circumstances, and the war brewing around them alongside trying to protect their new and fragile romance was gut-wrenchingly beautiful and I will never stop rooting for this little found family

And while the romance is a huge pull for me, the adventure aspect of this book had me absolutely feral as well. Ancient ruins, deadly creatures, and a plague-ridden continent create an atmosphere dripping with danger and intrigue but also bursting with whimsy and magic. There's so much more to this world than we already know, and every time more is revealed I just fall more in love. The world building in this series is truly so captivating and immersive.

I can't say enough good things about this series and this book in particular, I think this was my favorite of the whole series!

Queens of Mist and Madness by Lisette Marshall

adventurous dark emotional

5.0

This book is everything a finale should be, a perfect culmination of the trials and tribulations of the series so far in one intensely emotional sendoff.

Emelin has fought tooth and nail to reach this point, and her journey from reluctant pawn to a true force of nature is nothing short of mesmerizing. She's fierce, intelligent, and deeply flawed in a way that makes her feel so incredibly real.

The way she and Creon clash, challenge, and ultimately complete each other is one of the best enemies to lovers arcs I've read in a while. Their chemistry is electric, but it's the emotional depth that truly makes their relationship shine.

The balance of character development with action is really well done - every confrontation, every moment of doubt, every desperate gamble had me holding my breath. The twists were executed with precision, some hitting like a gut punch while others had me smiling like an idiot.

The world of the Fae Isles remains as immersive and richly detailed as ever. The magic system is both awe-inspiring and terrifying, and the political/historical/mythological lore feels endless. And the supporting cast-each character, from allies to enemies, felt fully realized, with their own motivations and struggles adding complexity to the story.

As a series conclusion, Queens of Mist and Madness sticks the landing in the best possible way. It provides closure without feeling overly neat, leaving enough threads for the reader's imagination and for the side books I know will be just as beautiful and gripping.

If you love dark fantasy, powerful heroines, and enemies to lovers romance with passion and depth, this series is a must read. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time and cannot recommend it highly enough.

A Debt of Shattered Hope by N. Cáceres

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book was a ROLLER COASTER from start from start to finish and left me feeling like I was coming out of a fever dream. It didn’t start out the way I would have expected a dark fantasy like this to start, which threw me for a loop even more once it really got going. At no point did I know what was going to happen next, I was constantly on the edge of my seat and gasping and literally clutching my pearls for dear life. 

This isn’t just another dark fantasy. It’s an emotional plunge into a realm absolutely dripping with deceptive beauty and malice where hope is dangerous—and debt is lethal—and it doesn’t just tell a story, it claims a little piece of your soul along with it. 

There is some truly dense world-building in this book, I’m not often intimidated by a glossary but damn, this one feels complex and I found myself going back to it a lot. You’re not spoon-fed information; instead, you’re thrust into a brutal landscape right along with Sóna and have to adapt just the same. The character and place names (which were one of my favorite parts tbh) the court connections and personal vendettas, the magic system, everything felt so unique and authentic and immersive. The amount of lore was so intense it almost felt a bit overwhelming at times, but overall for me it just added to the foreboding atmosphere of this world and reinforced that there’s nothing soft or safe about it despite how dangerously beautiful it can be. 

The romance (term used loosely iykyk) is interlaced with a sharp edge that was constantly bursting the little bubbles of love and lust. It’s never fluffy or surface-level — it’s aching, messy, and bittersweet. I could never quite get a handle on how I felt about Emrys and got whiplash from how many times I went from thinking he was the hottest man alive to wanting to beat him with a frying pan. But at the end of the day I’m still a simple slow-burn-enemies-to-lovers-forbidden-romance-possessive-MMC sl*t and their torturous edging had me gnawing on the bars of my enclosure for the entire book.

The emotional depth in this book is staggering. Caceres writes grief, trauma, guilt, and longing with an unflinching honesty that sometimes makes it hard to breathe. The raw and gritty way she manages to weave in even the most mundane grimness of reality with fantasy is immaculately done. There are moments of quiet pain, screaming rage, and devastating passion and there’s so much beauty buried in all of it. I found myself ugly crying more than once, and hoping against all my better judgement for a happy ending for these characters I grew such a soft spot for. 

If you’re a fan of morally very gray characters, dark worlds with high stakes and big lore (and spiiiiice) and stories that challenge your perceptions of good and evil, A Debt of Shattered Hope delivers all that and more. This one was absolutely unforgettable.

Lord of Gold and Glory by Lisette Marshall

adventurous dark slow-paced

5.0

this SERIES 🥹🤓 the magic, the drama, the lore, the tears, the spice… I fear I’ll never recover. This one is going in my personal hall of fame for sure. Book 2 gave me everything I wanted and more, it went more in depth into Emelin’s background and more about all my other favorite characters too. It’s a little more slowly paced and focuses more on information and world-building but the history lessons were far from boring and there was still such a good amount of development in Em and Creon’s relationship and between Em and her friends. This book added so much more richness to this world that feels so densely packed with love and war, gods and bargains, magic and politics and it’s one tangled ass web I cannot wait to get more into. Let’s goooo Book 3 👏🏻

Court of Blood and Bindings by Lisette Marshall

adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Devoured this one!!! It has everything that I cannot stay away from - deadly winged fae (with one weakness), one bed, forbidden magic, enemies to lovers, royal court political tea, PLUS a magic system based on colors which I have never seen before and absolutely loved! Knowing this was the start to a longer series was so exciting because there is some amazing world building, a decent amount of lore, awesome relationships and character backstories and it still left me wanting so much more. I adore Emelin and Creon’s relationship, it feels so much more than just surface level spice features some of my most treasured microtropes such as “tell me to stop” and “quick someone’s coming we have to make out” and while their lack of communication made me want to scream at them a time or two I loved watching them develop as a team and learn to work together. And Creon’s ability to make me swoon while never actually speaking continuously blew me away. This was a really great read and I’m already tearing through the next one!!

Unwritten By the Gods by Caty Rogan

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

This was an amazingly atmospheric and gripping story. I immediately fell in love with the characters and the writing; there is a really great pace that cuts out any unnecessary filler while still being filled with details and nuances that hint at much bigger things to come. It sets up an incredible foundation for a series I'm now dying to read, I already have so many questions about this world that I need answered. For a quick read, nothing about the writing or story felt rushed or cut short, and it was a really enjoyable spicy novella loaded with lots of world building and plenty of anticipation for the series to come.

Taste of Death by Sophie Ash

4.0

Unexpectedly sweet and full of dangerous, possessive vampires, fated mates, forbidden attraction, and a heroine thrown into a dark new existence she never asked for. Amy did feel a bit melodramatic at times but given her circumstances I guess there’s no shock there and watching her grapple with her transformation added a nice emotional layer to the book. Overall I enjoyed this read and it definitely satisfied my itch to read some spicy bloodsucking chaos. 

Blood Beneath the Snow by Alexandra Kennington

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Blood Beneath the Snow was such an incredible read, it's raw and gripping from the very first page and doesn't let up for a single second. The world building is unreal, the stakes are high, and the slow burn BURNS. I didn't really have a thing for masked men before this but those days... are gone. The character development throughout the story, the atmosphere, the twists, the banter, are all so so well done and so amazingly immersive. I genuinely had to stop myself from flying through this because I knew I would be sad when I finished and I was correct, I did not want it to end and I'm already dying to know what happens next. I can't recommend this one enough!!