Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen

So I probably should have physically read this book instead of listening to it....cause like..... I missed stuff and there were new characters....'

the ending was cool.
Me still only knowing vague bits of West African mythology, so I'm kind of clueless
304 Pages

Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater

So it's got some Cinderella and Rumpelstiltskin vibes...so I kept expecting it to twist with a Rumpelstiltskin twist.
Also the magic of embroidery and using it as a coping mechanism and like....the magic. fjkld
288 Pages

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

 

Pages: 206

"Set in the author's girlhood hometown of Lorain, Ohio, it tells the story of black, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove. Pecola prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be as beautiful and beloved as all the blond, blue-eyed children in America. In the autumn of 1941, the year the marigolds in the Breedloves' garden do not bloom. Pecola's life does change- in painful, devastating ways.

What its vivid evocation of the fear and loneliness at the heart of a child's yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment. The Bluest Eye remains one of Toni Morrisons's most powerful, unforgettable novels."

Late Banned Books week read. I was able to get the audiobook version read by Toni Morrison and I always love it when authors record their own books. It adds a depth to the story and this one is already beautiful in its prose. Definitely would recomend.

Defend the Dawn by Brigid Kemmerer

The fox. Smirks.
Also like....I wish I had written down my crack theory from the first book because like....it might have helped with the second book.
The ending.. Me looking for the publication date of the next book and it's not even on GoodReads....also like....
I'm a HarriSTAN. haha. I'm funny. Also I totally called it... like....I knew it.
When you get the queer vibes and you were RIGHT.
Oh it's the dawn cause...yeah that makes sense...
The last three chapters....like.... at leas there was some comfort in the last chapter, but like....
448 Pages

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Summary: "Hannah Brooks is an Executive Protection Agent (aka "bodyguard"), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his stalker. When Jack's mom gets sick, he comes home to the family's Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn't want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. So Hannah finds herself pretending to be Jack's girlfriend as a cover. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it's very easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That's the hardest thing she's ever done."

!!!!!!!

309 pages

goodreads | MOBIUS

In a Garden Buring Gold by Rory Power

yeah I picked this for the cover. cause it's pretty
......when it's not tagged as romance, but I have a ship....istg.....


......when you think either a character is really good at lying and faking feelings, or they genuinely have feelings and they're going to die... I'm fine. I'm not anxious for one specific character.
The epilogue: ok ok ok....I can dig this.
448 Pages

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

Yeah so I'm re-reading this so I can actually remember what's happening for the next book.
ok ok ok cool cool cool. 
All the mythology
336 Pages

The Layover by Lacie Waldon

Summary: "After ten years as a flight attendant, Ava Greene is poised to hang up her wings and finally put down roots. She's got one trip left before she bids her old life farewell, and she plans to enjoy every second of it. But then she discovers that former pilot Jack Stone -- the absurdly gorgeous, ridiculously cocky man she's held a secret grudge against for years -- is on her flight. And he has the nerve to flirt with her, as if he doesn't remember the role he played in the most humiliating night of her life. Good thing she never has to see him again after they land...."

I don't know how I feel about this book. I liked it in some sense, but not so much in another. Maybe it's just that others have done it better? hmmm. Probably would have been better as a vacay read.

320 pages

goodreads | MOBIUS

The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim

Summary: "A journey to the kingdom of dragons, a star-crossed love, and a cursed pearl with the power to mend the world or break it."

(I like this cover better, so I'm sticking with it!)

Please give me all the stories with all the dragons.

I love this series so much.

I want a paper crane named Kiki.

482 pages

goodreads | MOBIUS

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

Does Fergus make me think of the French knights from Monty Python....yes.
I love Ian.
I was wondering how they were going to cover both sides of the story.
Brianna and Roger. Just. My ship.
Me over here waiting for commentary on how slavery and indentured servitude is bad and how the people are being mistreated and treated as animals....
Sir Gray....same bro... We don't have to talk about; I gotchu. and I love you.
I really hope we don't make a pattern of villainizing characters that are larger (like I know we hate her and she's like....a crappy person)...or are already in marginalized groups....
Me being anxious for all the chilren.
Do I picture Brianna as Sadie Sink...yes. shut up
912 Pages

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

We get more of Jack's backstory. I'm here for it.
Also like....Did and did not see the twist coming, but called the last part.
Sometimes I keep forgetting that Stephanie Garber and Marissa Meyer aren't the same person, so I keep thinking that it's going to be a Wonderland retelling.....
The obsession with apples.
416 Pages

TS Song: ....The Archer...obviously.

The Memory of Babel by Christelle Dabos

Me just wanting more of Thorn, even though he's grumpy and can't explain his feelings.
Has my recent reading of R.F. Kuang's Babel influenced this....a little.
meh
456 Pages

Prince of Song and Sea by Linsey Miller

*doesn't want to return the book, cause I jsut wanna stare at the cover.... I'm Ariel.... cause he's so beautiful. *prints out cover to stare at.
Absolute fluff... I love it. Like...obviously... It's a retelling of the movie, but from Eric's perspective, and it's expanded.
The Scuttle, Sebastian, and Flounder cameos.
Eric is one of my favorite princes cause like...he sees Ariel's excitement and joy and doesn't try to crush it and doesn't get annoyed by it... like...he loves her for it... also he loves her bravery....like...she might be reckless, but she's brave
My boy has friends
Also communication and developing a system of communication. so pure. 
It's the emotional vulnerability and intimacy for me.
The cuteness
We stan Max.
When some of the chapters are named after the songs in the Broadway musical.
Also the epilogue.
352 Pages

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco

Greed has a reptile 
Me thinking of: 

Sloth is a reader....Rude....not wrong...but rude...
Celestia:

Tell me you love a guy with tattoos without telling me you love a guy with tattoos
When we get more backstory of the brothers
Not me asking for a spin off series.
Also give me more Envy and Sloth content
...es more spicy...but it's also more fluffy.
464 Pages

Lightlark by Alex Aster

Called the plot twist
I feel like the magic system and naming of it was kind of straightforward....like.... Moonlings...moon powers...
But I thought the curse aspect was neat, and the challenges were cool.
416 Pages

Behind the Scenes (Volume 1) by Bisco Hatori

It's by the author of Ouran High School Host Club
Also like... it's a club, but it's in college
My sweet poor fisherman boy who is creative and sweet... Must protect.
200 Pages

Monthly Girls Nozaki Kun (Volumes 2-5) by Izumi Tsubaki

Volume 2
the side character shenanigans where they try to fix their problems by copying shojo manga....and then Nozaki writes about it
Or the time when Nozaki pretends to be the heroine of his manga in order to get into her headspace and confuses Sakura
144 Pages

Volume 3
Mikoshiba being awkward and easy to trick and anxious. I love him. Like.....they're trying to practice for a group date, and it's just iconic.
And we get more of Wakamatsu and Hori
The Valentine's Day chapter.
144 Pages

Volume 4
Nozaki trying to figure out what counts as a surprise in shojo manga.
And we get Nozaki's little brother and we find out how and why Nozaki is able to live on his own.
The mall scene. Is just chef's kiss. Like...the running around...and Mikoshiba being Mikoshiba and being lost. 
The rage for cardboard boxes
the sleepover
aaand the festival that was the season/series finale in the anime
160 Pages

Volume 5
Aaaaaand this is all new cause the anime cut off here.
Sakura trying to get Nozaki to notice that she likes him by being subtle....as if that ever works with men.....
The Prince loses her voice and has to speak through pen and paper
Little bro can actually draw.
The beach episode.
And the overnight field trip.
And the origin story, aka when they met.
144 Pages

Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

My eye is twitching at the name "Black Mass" ..... like....ummmm... I get the play on words, but like....
The fact that Helena works with a person named Karen....like....come on.... it's perfect.
You ever just look at someone and wonder what's going on inside their head: racism and bigotry.

When you get attached to a character cause they're actually cool, but....
448 Pages

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater

It's got the fairy tale vibes + a little bit of Pride and Prejudice Mr. Darcy
Elias, the classic I'll be mean and grumpy so no one notices how much I care. Love it.
Commentary on the work houses and how people only see suffering if it's right in front of them and avoid talking about it because it's not polite conversation. Let's go.
Does Albert seem mildly queer-coded, or is that just me....
304 Pages

The Lord Sorcier (novella prequel)
We get to see how Elias and Albert met.... fsjkd
36 Pages

Crumbs by Danie Stirling

It's magic and it's fluffy.
Just like....a witch who's a seer, but she sees the present, and a boy who wants to be a musician and works at a magical bakery. Just. Fluff. and the world concept.
fjkldsa
384 Pages

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

I feel like this is a book where I have to sit and knaw on my feelings about it. 
Also like...I can't.
The world building. The origins
My boy. My baby boy. We love him. I want more of him.
I had no idea how the book was gonna, and I was afraid that it was going to go one of two ways, for like...the first third of the book, but it didn't.
When there's a character you don't like. And you just wanna get rid of them, but you can't.
....An airplane...like..ugh. It wasn't necessary, and you could totally have just taken a nap and have a snack if you wanted to avoid your feelings.... I'm irritated, don't ask me about it. 
Sometimes El's choices confuse me...And by choices, I mean two specific choices....
I wonder if the story would have benefited from a second perspective...not even often, but like.... I wanted more of him...
416 Pages

Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels

Pages: 425

"The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. But nothing comes without a price. Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves."

City of Lost Souls

Pages: 535

"What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?"

City of Heavenly Fire

Pages: 753

"Darkness has descended on the Shadowhunter world. Chaos and destruction overwhelm the Nephilim as Clary, Jace, Simon, and their friends band together to fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell. Nothing in this world can defeat Sebastian—but if they journey to the realm of demons, they just might have a chance…"

Apologies for the long post, but I binged the last three books in this series. The writing kept getting better, though it did slow down in the 5th book a little bit but the conundrum of how to separate Jace from Sebastian kept me reading. Prepare for some heartbreak in the final book. I had to take a few breaks near the end especially to process. I cannot wait to see what else the author has in store for this universe in the coming trilogies and spin-offs!