• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon | ARC Review

    4th May 2021
    Cover of Sorrowland (Rivers Solomon)

    Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: animal killings, self harm, childbirth, alcohol abuse, cult, gaslight, pedophilia, blood, death, drowning, rape, attempted forcing of medication, torture, hallucination, brainwash, non-consensual medical experiment, reclaimed d slur, suicide, cannibalism?, voyeurism?, drug abuse, child abuse

    The craft of fiction at its finest.

    Sorrowland opens in the woods with the fifteen-year-old Vern—who is Black, albino (the term is used in text), and intersex—giving birth to twins Howling and Feral, the latter also has albinism. Vern grew up in the Blessed Acres of Cain, a religious compound that was supposed to be a Black utopia, but she had to escape because everything there seems to be a lie. Over the next several months and years, Vern’s body begins to change. She is both stronger and more vulnerable, and she starts to understand that the power of the past while struggling to raise the twins with the freedom she never had.

    I used to wish for a book in contemporary settings that references history and beliefs while telling a brand new story deeply influenced by the past. And now I have found it in Sorrowland.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Before. After. Always. by Morgan Lee Miller | ARC Review

    3rd May 2021
    Cover of Before. After Always (Morgan Lee Miller)

    Before. After. Always. by Morgan Lee Miller

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: panic attacks, PTSD, motor accidents, loss of loved ones, surgery, hospitalization, homophobia, outing, conversion therapy (pray the gay away)

    I loved Miller’s YA duology All the Worlds between Us (my review of ATWBU & ATPTY) and have been looking forward to Before. After. Always. for months. And I wasn’t disappointed.

    Dr. Eliza Walsh (31, lesbian) lost her girlfriend of four years when she was eighteen in a car accident where she was the driver. Now, thirteen years later, she is a surgeon on her last year of residency and still not entirely ready to love again. When Blake Navarro (30, lesbian, Mexican American) enters the ER with multiple fractures after a motorcycle accident, Eliza becomes intrigued by this flirty patient. After discharge, Eliza decides to take up on Blake’s invitation to Mezcal Cocina where she works as a head chef. Would it be so wrong to get to know this reckless woman?

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  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Requiem for Immortals by Lee Winter

    22nd April 2021
    Cover of Requiem for Immortals (Lee Winter)

    Requiem for Immortals (The Law Game #1) by Lee Winter

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: dub con, graphic sex, death, poison, human trafficking, animal cruelty, choking, erotic asphyxiation, torture, threaten, abuse, manipulation, gaslighting, blood, fatphobia

    Side effect: developing an obsession with cellists.

    Professional cellist Natalya Tsvetnenko (41) is also a professional assassin. As Requiem, Natalya is known for her skills of getting her jobs done. When her newest target Alison Ryan (34) seems to be nothing like her usual ones who reek evilness, Natalya is intrigued and unexpectedly strikes up a friendship with Alison. However, she never anticipates just how unexpected this assignment is going to lead her.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Night Tide by Anna Burke | ARC Review

    14th April 2021
    Cover of Night Tide (Anna Burke)

    Night Tide (A Seal Cove Romance #2) by Anna Burke

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    You know when you hate someone so much you ended up knowing every tiny thing about them? Well, I don’t, but Lillian and Ivy do.

    Dr. Lillian Lee (31) and Dr. Ivy Holden have been archenemies throughout vet school, so when Ivy relocates to Seal Cove where Lillian is working, the latter is not pleased. To Lillian, Ivy is a spoiled rich kid who made her life hell. But what if she isn’t horrible anymore now?

    I love books with wonderful imageries and great thematic choices. In Spindrift (my review here), I adored the opening and ending scenes of the dock, from boat to land, and here in Night Tide, the freedom on an isolated island with crashing waves, persistent and ever-growing vines of ivy, the somberness of Edgar Allen Poe references, etc. are as beautifully interwoven as I could have wished for.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Spellbound by Ophelia Silk | ARC Review

    8th April 2021
    Cover of Spellbound (Ophelia Silk)

    Spellbound by Ophelia Silk

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Check trigger warnings on the author’s website.

    I went into the story knowing I’m going to get cottagecore sapphics with a simplistic plot, but I didn’t expect it to be so cute.

    Jane Paris (20) and William make a striking couple. Or so the villagers say. One day, after another dissatisfying evening with William, Jane walks into the dangerous forest for a shortcut back home. Soon, a poisonous beast attacks her and it is only because of the witch Adelaide Thompson’s magic and cure that Jane survives. Raised to be proper and polite and marry a man, Jane learns that not all expectations are meant to be fulfilled, especially when there are other things that bring her happiness.

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