Author: Rach @ Anxious Nachos

Educational publisher, writer and cat mama.

Magical Readathon – NEWTs TBR

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It is time for one of the best readathon’s of the year! I participated in the Magical Readathon OWLs back in April and absolutely loved it. For those who don’t know, the Magical Readathon, hosted by G from Book Roast, are based on the Harry Potter universe exam systems – OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) and NEWTs (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests). For each subject you can study at Hogwarts, there are reading prompts. At NEWTs level, each subject has three prompts, one for each ‘grade’: A – Acceptable; E – Exceeds Expectations; O – Outstanding. It’s quite a complicated system, so to find out more, you can watch the announcement video here.

To further add to the awesomeness, there is a complete careers guide to wizarding careers including a description of the profession alongside required OWL and NEWT subjects and grades required to qualify. And if you’re following the rules and playing both the OWLs and NEWTs, you can only sit NEWTs in subjects which you sat at OWLs.

Back in April, I decided to go for the Librarian career path (mainly because it seemed do-able and I was visiting home for most of April and wouldn’t have much time, but also because books). That required OWLs in Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic and Transfigurations. I also completed the Potions OWL as well. This means I have six subjects I can sit for my NEWTs. To qualify as a Librarian, I need an Outstanding in Ancient Runes and an E in History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts – meaning I need to read at least 7 books to qualify! Totally achievable! But as I am a perfectionist, I will of course be going for O’s in all exams I sit (so aiming for 9 books in August).

So without further ado, here’s my TBR for the NEWTs readathon.

Ancient Runes

Acceptable: Ehwaz (partnership) – a read recommended by a friend
The Afterward by E.K Johnston

This book was recommended to me by Dahlia at LGBTQReads, and was actually the first book I chose in their patreon subscription service I signed up for whereby Dahlia helps me pick a book each month. High fantasy, female knights, quests, I am totally sold on this book and am very excited to read it!

Exceeds Expectations: Book written in past tense
We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra

This book is told via letters written between Jonathon and Adam, as they complete a penpal assignment for their English class. Dealing with topics like bullying and homophobia, the two boys become friends and more. This sounded like such a cool concept with the letter-format so I’m really excited to see how it plays out!

Outstanding: Book that has been on your TBR for ages
How to be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters

How to be Remy Cameron is one of my most anticipated books publishing in the later half of 2019 and I somehow was lucky enough to be approved for an eARC on NetGalley (still don’t know how this happened!!) All about labels and identity, this book sounds like it will be a perfect YA coming-of-age novel.

History of Magic

Acceptable: Read a fantasy
The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

I eagerly awaited arrival of this book for almost 2 months after I first ordered it with my bookshop, but it FINALLY arrived last week and I can’t wait to read it – set in a world where happy ever after isn’t just a dream, it’s enforced, this book sounds super creepy and dark and I can’t wait to read it!

Exceeds expectations: Read a book that contains a map
Descendent of the Crane by Joan He

This is a book I’ve had since it released back in April but I haven’t managed to read it yet. It has such a gorgeous cover and also includes a detailed map so of course I had to pick it for this prompt!

Outstanding: Tom Riddle’s diary: fond memory – reread a favourite
The Song of Achilles – Madeleine Miller

I have been meaning to reread The Song of Achilles since I finished it the first time. I always feel a little weird rereading books, especially when my TBR has so many unread books on it, which it has definitely has had the past few months. So I was extremely happy to see this prompt because it gives me a chance to break my heart again rereading The Song of Achilles.

Defence Against the Dark Arts

Acceptable: Book that’s black under the dust jacket
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I was casually wandering a bookshop for a completely unrelated to me reason (present buying) and I came across this GORGEOUS collector’s edition copy of The Hate U Give with a stunning black cover, edges and under the dust jacket. I’ve been meaning to read this book for forever, so of course when I saw this goddess of a book in the shop, I had to buy it.

Exceeds expectations: Gilderoy’s memory charm – first book you remember from your TBR
Reverie by Ryan La Sala

This was such a funny prompt, the first time I saw it during the NEWTs announcement video, I immediately blanked on every single book that was on my TBR. Second time I read it, when actually preparing my TBR for this readathon, I was more successful and thought of Reverie by Ryan La Sala. This book has been at the forefront of my mind since I heard about it, I’m sure partly due to Ryan’s incredible tweets which make me laugh several times a week. This book is just so so so gay and I cannot wait.

Outstanding: Cornish pixie! Swat it away with a book from an English author or set in England.
A Girl Called Shameless by Laura Steven

This was actually the prompt I struggled most to find one for, who knew I had so few books on my shelf by English authors or set in England. However, I very recently finished The Exact Opposite of Okay and it became one of my all-time favourite books, so I ordered the sequel straight away. I have all my fingers crossed that the book arrives before the end of August because I don’t know what I’ll read if it doesn’t! This book looks to be a continuation of the amazing, feminist, hilarity that was The Exact Opposite of Okay.

That’s it for what I’ll call my achievable TBR. Despite having no faith in my ability, I have also prepared a TBR for the other three exams I can sit if I end up having time to do so. I won’t go into as much detail for each of these books, but here’s the rest of the the exams, prompts and books I might read during August.

Arithmancy

Acceptable: Book that ends on an even page number – Wicked Fox by Kat Cho

Exceeds Expectations: Read a standalone – The Outside by Ada Hoffman

Outstanding: Book that’s longer than 350pp – The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Potions

Acceptable: Polyjuice potion: read your friend’s favourite book – The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Exceeds expectations: House ingrediant: book with a cover in your Hogwarts house colour – Boys Will Be Boys by Clementine Ford

Outstanding: Book that starts with a Prologue – The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

Transfigurations

Acceptable: Read a book with LGBTIQA+ rep – Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

Exceeds expectations: Read a book that’s not a first in the series – The Kingdom of Copper by S.K Chakraborty

Outstanding: McGonagall does not mess around. Read a book over 500 pages – The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Link me below to all your TBRs for what sounds like an absolutely amazing readathon! I can’t wait to see what you’re reading in August.

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Top 5 Tuesday: Alphabet, part 5!

Rach @ Anxious Nachos3 Comments

Top 5 Tuesday is created and run by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. You can join the fun by checking out the topics for the month here.

Squuueeeeee so it is officially the last week of July and therefore the last part of the alphabet extravanganza that has been Top 5 Tuesday these past few weeks. It was so much more difficult that I expected to find books with every letter, and I did have to cheat so many times and ignore the words ‘the’ and ‘a’ in order to actually complete it.

This week, I have a mix of: letters I have so many recommendations for and other letters I struggled with so much. There’s literally no books beginning with V or X, I swear it. So expect lots of books I haven’t had a chance to read yet, but that I’m still very excited for! (and expect lots of books beginning with W to make up for the fact I have a big fat zero for X…)

The letter U

Unbroken – Brooklyn Ray

So I haven’t quite read this one yet, but I’m hoping I get a chance to soon. This book is about Victor, who moves into an old haunted house. And of course falls in love with the witch turned demon who is bound to the house. Yes please, sign me up, I am here for this trope!

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Publishing early 2020, this book tells the story of Esther, a stowaway who’s trying to escape her arranged marriage. The arranged marriage to a guy who used to be engaged to best friend and love of her life before her execution. Queer librarians, resistance fighting and spies, this book sounds excellent. Queer librarians will sell me every time!

The Unspoken Name by A.K Larkwood

Another publishing early 2020, this book has everything that makes me want to scream about fantasy: religion, venegful gods, sacrificial magic (and I think it’s f/f?!!) Csorwe is destined to give herself up as sacrifice to her gods. However, on the eve of her foretold death, a poweful mage offers her freedom, if she’ll become his thief, assassin and spy. This is the story of a villain’s sidekick – and that is something I never knew I wanted until I heard about this book and now I can think of nothing better!

The letter V

Viper by Bex Hogan

I love pirates. I just do. So of course this seafaring adventure with a female lead caught my eye! Marianne is fated to one day become the Viper, the legendary defender of the Twelve Isles. But until that day, the current Viper rules the seas in a murderous and venegful way. Oh and the current Viper is her father. This sounds like a thrilling pirate adventure with lots of family drama and hopefully eyeliner wearing pirates.

The letter X

I’m sorry book bloggers, for I have failed.

I have nothing beginning with X. I did find book I thought sounded interesting but I was concerend about potential for problematic content so I read the reviews, and they confirmed my concerns – hence I don’t feel comfortable recommending it to people!

So instead of books beginning with the letter X, here’s some containing the letter X….

I’m very sorry for my failure….Have lots of W books instead!

The letter W

The Wicker King – K. Ancrum

This book is absolutely mindblowing, from the design of the book (would highly recommend reading a print copy over eBook if you’re able!) to the poetic prose. The book follows August as he watches best friend Jack slowly succumb to degenerative hallucinatory disorder. No review I could ever write can do this book justice, but I did try and you can find out my full thoughts here.

We Hunt the Flame – Hafsah Faizal

What a debut fantasy this was! We Hunt the Flame is an Ancient Arabia inspired fantasy, involving broody assassins, amazing bros, fierce hunter women who is an ace with a bow (YES), and a creepy and disturbing villain who is slowly taking over the entire land… Check out my full review here!

Wicked Saints – Emily A Duncan

Another great fantasy debut this year, Wicked Saints has so many of my absolute favourite things in fantasy: blood magic, religion, Gods who commune with people, sassy bisexual icons, dark broody monsters….I could go on. Plus the cover is just stunning on my bookshelf. Check out my full review here!

We are Totally Normal – Rahul Kanakia

I am so here for queer couples of covers. There’s been a sweep of just stunning queer covers recently and this is another! Publishing in early 2020, We are Totally Normal is a YA, coming-out love story about labels and what it means to be normal. When Dave and Nandan hook up at a party, despite not being into guys before, Nandan vows to give it a shot but struggles when everyone starts to look at him differently.

Wicked Fox – Kat Cho

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I am so excited for this book! I was waiting for it be delivered for almost 2 months, and it finally arrived and so I’m definitely planning to read this one in July. “Gu Miyoung has a secret – she’s a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive.” Ummmmmmm yes?! I’ve heard such great things about the romance in this (as in, I’ve heard people it describe as one of their favourite YA romances ever) so I can’t wait to start reading!

The Letter Y

You Asked for Perfect – Laura Silverman

This book hurt my heart because it hit very close to home: featuring a teen struggling to feel good abotu himself, who always needs to be the best to feel worthwhile, and who suddenly fails his first test and everything slowly falls apart.

The letter Z

I actually have a book for Z! Yes! Although again, I haven’t technically read this one yet…

Ziggy, Stardust and Me – James Brandon

Set in the 1970’s, this book follows a teen in a time where homosexuality was still considered a mental illness, as they fall for someone they really don’t want to. It looks to be quite a difficult read, with discussions around homophobia and queer conversion therapy, but despite how hard-hitting this will be, I think it sounds phenomenal.

And that’s it for this week! I can’t believe I made it to the end of the alphabet – and with only one letter I totally failed on!

I can’t wait to see what everyone put this week (especially for letter X!!!)

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: Planetfall by Emma Newman

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Title: Planetfall by Emma Newman

Publisher: Ace/Roc

Publication date: 3 Nov 2015

Genre: Science fiction| Adult

Page extent: 336 pages

Content warnings: severe warning for anyone suffering from anxiety as this book is very difficult to read.

Planetfall is the first of Emma Newman’s Planetfall series. Both Planetfall and Before Mars (#3) are stand alone novels and I read Before Mars earlier in the year and really enjoyed it. Planetfall is just as good – in fact, I’d even say I enjoyed it more. The mental health represenatation is absolutely exceptional. Planetfall is very much a character-driven sci-fi novel with more of a focus on people and trauma than on science or technology. This book was absolutely amazing – until the last 20 pages. The ending really didn’t satisfy me, hence why this isn’t a 5 star read.

Planetfall follows Renata, an engineer in the colony of a new planet, as she reacts to a surprise new arrival from somewhere else on the planet. Out of the wilderness of the planet walked Sung-Soo, a person who bore a remarkable resemblence to the Pathfinder who had led them to the planet. And who shouldn’t exist.

As Renata reacts to this new arrival, we find out there’s move involved than meets the eye. Something happened all those years ago when the crew made planetfall, and Renata has buried the trauma so deeply, it tears her apart as the truth is revealed.

The mystery and tension of the story is brilliant – Newman creates a very thriller-esque sci-fi, as we get hints and reveal of murder and trauma that happpened at planetfall, but we see these glimspes from the eyes of Renata, someone who has hidden these memories away so deeply she can’t remember. The mystery around the events of planetfall centre on this living organism called God’s City – a giant structure that we see as Renata explores within it. There seem to be remenants of intelligent live within the city, and we know the events of first planetfall happened here. The mystery was very engaging and I really wanted to find out what this city was and more about it. The writing was hugely visceral when within the city, and you very much got the impression it was definitely a living thing – this was paritcularly evident in scenes where Renata was forced to cut through the city. It was very realistically gross!

I adored Renata. She is by no means a likeable character – she is shown at times to be ruthless and uncaring. And yet, at the same time it is very clear she has suffered, and is suffering. Renata’s mental illness was very overwhelming to read. A big, big warning to any anxiety sufferers – this was probably the closest I’ve gotten to having to physically stop reading a book because of the level of anxiety I was feeling whilst reading. I have a huge admiration for Emma for being able to write so brutally realistically.

Sung-Soo was a character I disliked very much from the start, pretty much entirely because of the awful way he pushed Renata to force her to be open with him despite her mental illness. It was very jarring and awful to see Renata so stressed and anxious because of him. I think because of this, I was very wary of him as a character.

In saying that, I did love the ending of Sung-Soo’s arc. I thought it was absolutely perfect, and I just wish the book had ended there! The last 20 pages or so as Renata found out the mystery of God’s City kind of just felt like it should have been a totally different book? It just didn’t hugely make sense to me and felt very random and totally out of character of the rest of the book.

But despite the ending, I did really enjoy this book! Emma Newman has such an incredible ability to write mental illness into her characters in such an awfully realistic way that it is truly difficult to read. It was such a gripping book, and I definitely recommend this series to everyone!

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: The City of Brass by S.K Chakraborty

Rach @ Anxious Nachos1 Comment

Title: The City of Brass by S.K Chakraborty

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publication date: 14 Nov 2017

Genre: Fantasy| Adult

Page extent: 533 pages

So I literally just finished reading this book and my brain is a mess so I am coming to my blog to write all my thoughts immediately before I burst.

NAHRI WHY?!

DARA WHY?!

ALI WHY?!

Why do characters make decisions which hurt me?! Why do I enjoy books which do this?! Literally all my favourites cause me so much pain and just…whhhhyyyy.

Okay, I’ll try start actually talking about the book now. First of all, if a highly detailed, descriptive political intrigue book is not your type of thing, this book may not be for you. However, if you do adore incredibly thought out, masterfully woven and exceptional worldbuilding? Then The City of Brass is for you!

The City of Brass opens in Cario, on Nahri, a thief and con artist who uses her odd healing powers to trick customers out of money. Against the advice of a co-conspirator, she starts performing zars, a ceremony to drive out a djinn from the body of a human. However, when Nahri sings at the zar, she accidentally summons Dara, a real-life djinn.

In a different world, we meet Alizayd, a prince of Daevabad and second in line to the throne. He’s deeply religious and training to be Qaid, the head of the Royal Guard, for when his brother gains the throne. Despite his love and loyalty to his family, Ali is unhappy with the way shafit, djinn with human blood, are treated in Daevabad and so provides money to the shafit rebellion.

We switch between Nahri and Ali’s POVs throughout the book, with both having a distinct and different style. Whilst Nahri’s POV is reminiscent of her time in busy, bustling Cairo with an almost frenetic energy to her thoughts and journey, Ali’s POV even in moments of danger and action is more serene and calm, reflective of his background training to be Qaid. Despite Dara being my favourite character, I actually liked that we didn’t get his POV. I liked that he remained at times mysterious and distant, because it just made me love him all the more. Every one of these characters is just so flawed which is GREAT and realistic and even though it made me want to scream at them sometimes (see first few lines of this post…), it just made everything so much more real. Nothing seemed far fetched or unrealistic. I was shocked and surprised and hurt at what happened, and yet all of the characters’ decisions made perfect sense for them. Nahri is fiercely independent, she’s learned how to survive as an orphan and is so so smart. Ali is so torn between his loyalty to his family and his feelings on the shafit and spends the book struggling to decide who he wants to be. Then there’s Dara. Strong-willed, exiled Dara, who is so so angry all the time at the people who destroyed his family.

The detail that went into building these characters was exceptional – they are all so clear, even those who spend less time on the page. I loved Jamshid, who follows around Muntadhir (Ali’s brother) and is unwillingly involved in the events at the end. I thought Ghassan, the King, was absolutely brilliantly evil – he was so perfectly executed, I loved how grey a character he is. He is so evil and yet he is so in love with his family, and I just love when I get villains who have feelings and purpose and reason.

All of these characters do terrible things at times (except perhaps Jamshid, my soft, fragile boy who I love and please don’t let him come to harm) and I love them all. Dara with his pain and anguish from what he’s been made to do, Ali who is fiercly loyal to family and yet can’t help from fighting against them, and Nahri who is so strong and fierce and fights for the right to determine her own future. PLEASE DON’T HURT THEM IN THE KINGDOM OF COPPER.

I should also mention the incredibly impressive worldbuilding. The level of depth and detail is almost unlike anything I’ve seen in fantasy before. The different clans and the religion, and the history of the daeva/djinn is just so captivating. It was definitely difficult to get my head around at the start, but it’s mentioned often enough that you can catch on fairly quickly. The world is absolutely fantastic. I loved the way religion was interwoven into the story, and how important it was to the daeva. The small introductions to different magical creatures was excellent as well – and I really hope we get to see more of the ifrit, the marid, the peris, they are all so mysterious and interesting.

I found the history of the daeva war absolutely fascinating. I adore when there are no black/white, ‘good vs evil’ plots – and this was about as far from that as you can get. Each side committed and still do commit heinous acts and both believe so strongly that they are right – it’s so difficult to know who to root for, every time I made a decision that yes this is the side I support, something happened and I would feel guilty and be all the way back at square one not knowing who I wanted to win. And that kind of writing is just amazing.

S.K Chakraborty has woven an incredibly detailed, masterful fantasy that is one of the best I’ve ever read. It has action, deep political intrigue, religion, elemental creatures, soft, emotional men and fierce strong women and is so beautifully painful because these characters are so well developed and I can’t see them hurt. Of course I’ve already bought The Kingdom of Copper (it has been shipped, please arrive soon, AUSTRALIA POST DON’T LET ME DOWN) and I know they’ll be hurt and I will still read. But I am so in love with these characters and this world and how all-encompassing this book is. WHAT A FUCKING DEBUT.

*Update at the time of scheduling this post* THE KINGDOM OF COPPER HAS ARRIVED I’M TOO SCARED TO READ

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Top 5 Tuesday: Alphabet, Part 4

Rach @ Anxious Nachos1 Comment

Top 5 Tuesday is created and run by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. You can join the fun by checking out the topics for the month here.

Well this was a week from hell. The day job was awful this past week so reading motivation (and really just all around general motivation) went down so much. Writing this has totally taken it out of me and I am ready to fall asleep… So I do apologise for any typing errors as I have proofread exactly none of this.

We are Week 4 of the themed July alphabet challenge. This week we’re looking at letters P-Q-R-S-T and as with last week, I thought I’d continue celebrating some new releases publishing this year as well as books I’ve already read.

The letter P
The Poppy War – R.F Kuang

It is almost August which means it is almost The Dragon Republic release date, which is the sequel to The Poppy War, and I am so so so so so so so so so so excited. The Poppy War is one of the best fantasies I’ve ever read. It’s one of the only grimdark books I’ve read with a female lead, who is INCREDIBLE. There is such a range of amazing characters, the story and action is so brilliant and the magic system is amazing!

Planetfall – Emma Newman

I have a full review of this book scheduled for this week! This was an amazing read, with such a realistic and strong portrayal of mental illness. If it hadn’t been for the ending, this would’ve been one of my favourite books of the year – but it is still definitely worth a read!

Practically Ever After – Isabel Bandeira

Publishing in November, Practically Ever After is an f/f, YA novel following Grace as she enters her last few months of high school. Grace has perfectly calculated how to succeed at everything, but now life is fighting back and her perfect calculations are a mess. The blurb sounds quite similar to You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman which I loved so I have high hopes!

The letter Q
The Quiet at the End of the World – Lauren James

So Q was definitely the hardest letter this week – I can only think of one I’ve read, and NONE that are publishing this year. The Quiet at the End of the World is a really great, happy science-fiction novel. I kind of wanted it to be less hopeful and happy because I am an absolute sucker for a novel that hurts me, but the mystery and quiet air of ease in this book is really lovely.

The letter R
Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston

This is a book so many people are talking about – and it is totally worth it! This is such a happy, fun and fiercely queer novel about what happens if the First Son of the United States falls in love with the Prince of England. It is laugh-out-loud hilarious and oh so fun!

The Raven Tower – Ann Leckie

This is Ann Leckie’s first foray into fantasy after a very successful sci-fi series. I really enjoyed it – it’s definitely not for everyone. The Raven Tower uses second person, which I know is quite divisive as a POV, but I thought it was used very well and was so effective. Based loosely on Hamlet, the story is told in two parts: a kingdom who’s King is missing (presumed dead), and millions of years in the past, and following a rock, an ancient god who watches the world develop. It sounds a bit odd, but it’s really great!

The Resurrectionist of Caligo – Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga

Bodysnatchers, princess, Victorian style setting, blood magic, science, fantasy noir? YES YES and YES.

The Letter S

Okay so S is a big category this week because I couldn’t narrow down all the amazing books publishing this year that begin with S. They all sound SO good!

Shatter the Sky – Rebecca Kim Wells

Shatter the Sky technically releases at the end of July but I was lucky enough to get a NetGalley review copy and hence I am counting it as my read book this week. This book contains dragons (both fierce and adorable), bisexual heroine and a mission to take down an evil regime – and it’s so good! You can read my full review of this title here!

Salvation Day – Kali Wallace

“A lethal virus is awoken on an abandoned spaceship in this incredibly fast-paced, claustrophobic thriller.” I don’t think I can describe it better than the Goodreads blurb! This sounds so tense and scary – any form of media about viruses really sparks some innate fear and captivation in me so I am very excited about this one!

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them – Junauda Petrus

This is one of my most anticipated books of the entire year! YA love story – super diverse, sapphic, POC, religion, illness, this just sounds like a book that is going to break my heart and I cannot wait.

Salvaged – Madeleine Roux

Okay so this is another kind of virusy-like sci fi. This time, it’s an alien parasite infection. Rosalyn is a space janitor, cleaning up space missions that have gone wrong. She’s sent to the Brigantine, a research vessel which has ‘gone dark’, and all crew are assumed dead. Except they aren’t. They are very much alive, except not quite human anymore…

Serpent & Dove – Shelby Mahurin

Witches and church war! Accidental marriage between a witch and a priest! Not meaning to fall in love! Enemies to lovers! I am a fan of ALL OF THIS.

Slay – Brittney Morris

Okay diverse gaming YA book with murder and a completely epic teen developer fighting against online racist trolls?! Yes this does sound like a perfect book.

The letter T
The Travelling Cat Chronices – Hiro Arikawa

This is such a sweet and loving little book – told from the story of a cat and their hooman, as the cat tries to understand why his hooman no longer wants him. It is so heartbreaking but lovely and so perfect for any cat lovers out there.

The Book of M – Peng Shepherd

Okay so I realise I’ve been using ‘the’ for every other letter and am now using it for the letter T as well. But this book is too good not to mention it! People start losing their shadows, but it turns out that’s where memories are stored. As people start forgetting who they are, they begin gaining something else though….magic to make the impossible possible.

Tarnished are the Stars – Rosiee Thor

Illegal medical technology, queer, science-fantasy, assassins, a deadly epidemic, mysteries, this sounds incredibly awesome!

There Will Come a Darkness – Katy Rose Pool

I won’t lie, the title alone sold me on this book before I even read the blurb. Prophets and prophecies and 5 people who could save the world, or destroy it. SIGN ME UP.

Wow that was a lot of books. This last week has been impossible to get through and this took so much effort to write but I am done and I love all these books and I hope you do too! Let me know if you’ve read any of these or if there’s any you’re looking forward to as well.

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

Rach @ Anxious Nachos1 Comment

Title: The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

Publisher: Imprint

Publication date: 31 Oct 2017

Genre: Fantasy | Young adult

Page extent: 305 pages

Holy fuck was this a read. What a twisted and stunning novel combining mental illness, fantasy and soft, broken, co-dependent boys. The writing is so lyrical and poetic, it’s just absolutely stunning.

I was tossing between both of K. Ancrum’s book for my Pride TBR list – The Wicker King or The Weight of the Stars. I decided on The Wicker King because I really love reading books with good mental health representation as it’s very close to my heart – and it did not disappoint. August learns that best friend Jack is beginning to hallucinate a fantasy world, one he can interact with but which no else can. The halluncinations seem to grow worse and worse as Jack imagines himself in the midst of a quest within the world. August, trying to support his friend, allows him to play out the fantasy, and helps Jack to fulfil the quest.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book quite like this, not least because of the styling. You most definitely should pick up a print copy of this book, because the way the book is printed is phenomenal. Ink slowly covers more and more of the page, as Jack’s illness progresses and it is such a powerful tool. I haven’t ever seen a book do something like that before, the closest I can think of is Illuminae which I read on a Kindle and so it didn’t really work.

K. Ancrum has such a beautiful and emotive prose – I felt like someone had punched me in the chest the whole way through. It was brutal in a way not many books are. It was so gutrenching to see August realise how much help Jack needed but not know how to help him. With neglectful adults, he does the only thing he knows how to – he tries to help Jack himself. Their relationship is so twisted and interesting. August wants so much to give his whole self to Jack, and be under his control, he would do anything for him. And Jack is just as entranced, wanting to control and give August what he needs.

This is such a difficult book to review, because I’m still numb from the read. When I think about it, I struggle to find words because it is such a different, unique and magnificant book. All I can say, is that is it absolutely stunning and you will feel absolutely torn apart as you read it.

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Top 5 Tuesday: Alphabet, part 3

Rach @ Anxious Nachos5 Comments

Top 5 Tuesday is created and run by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. You can join the fun by checking out the topics for the month here.

Following on from the last two weeks is the continuation of the incredibly difficult alphabet list! This week’s letters are K-L-M-N-O, and for once I was actually super happy because I thought I had no ‘The’s’ or ‘A’s at the start of these titles (like I have had the past two weeks).

And then I realised I’d just typed up the wrong title on my spreadsheet and the correct title did have a ‘the’. So once again I have failed! I am sorry.

This week I thought I’d give both a title I really enjoyed as well as one I’m looking forward to for the rest of the year because I still have so many books I want to read and I want to share the love.

So without further ado…

The letter K

Keep This to Yourself – Tom Ryan

This book was an absolutely brilliant queer YA thriller. I feel like there really isn’t many YA thrillers (at least I haven’t read very many) so this was a really great new genre for me! The thriller/mystery aspect was very engaging and tense and I loved the slow reveal – it was so gripping and the setting was excellent!

Kingdom of Souls – Rena Barron

Okay how awesome is that cover?!? So powerful! Kingdom of Souls is about a girl called Arrah who comes from a long line of witchdoctors, but she isn’t able to wield magic. So, she sells years of her life in order to gain the power of magic. This sounds like it will be a really immersive and interesting read and it’s publishing on September 3.

The letter L

(The) Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali – Sabina Khan

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali is a brilliant story about a queer, Muslim teen and what happens when her parents catch her kissing her girlfriend. A representation not often seen, this book does a wonderful job portraying the blend of cultures in Rukhsana who feels torn by her American upbringing and her Bengali heritage. You can read my full review of this title here!

Love from A to Z – S.K Ali

Love from A to Z is one of my absolute favourite love stories I’ve ever read. It’s a fantastically beautiful tale about Adam and Zayneb, who keep running into each other. Zayneb is such a fantastic and strong character, and I love the interwining of religion and romance this book has. You can read my full gushing review of this title here!

(The) Light at the Bottom of the World – London Shah

This book is one of the releases I have been most looking forward to this year. Set in an underwater London after sea levels rose, diverse characters, terrible sea creatures, corrupt governments, this has everything I love in a dystopian novel! This book publishes October 29 and I am so so excited.

The Letter M

Missing, Presumed Dead – Emma Berquist

Missing, Presumed Dead is one of my favourite reads this year so far. It focuses on the mental impact of having magic, specifically magic that means whenever you touch someone, you see how they die. When Jane comes back to haunt Lexi after being murdered, Lexi vows to help find the killer. This book is AMAZING!!!! It’s was much darker than I expected, but so thrilling. The mystery, the magic, the gritty atmosphere, it was all awesome. You can find my full reviw here!

(The) Merciful Crow – Margaret Owen

The Merciful Crow is just one book with a bird on it that I want to read this year. This sounds like such a great new fantasy – first of all, it has a group of undertakers which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before??! Necromancy, yes. Grave robbers, yes. Undertakers?? This feels like a really new take on the death fantasy trend. Then we have a prince who fakes his own death and a bodyguard who wants to live his own life and not protect his prince. This just sounds like an epic conglomeration of ideas and I can’t wait to read it when it publishes at the end of this month!

The Letter N

Normal People – Sally Rooney

I read Normal People last year after I spotted it on the longlist for the Man Booker and it became another book which made me far, FAR too emotional on public transport. The book tells the tale of two teens in Ireland, who fall in love and grow apart and all the hurt and pain that comes with it. It’s spectacular!

Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo

I haven’t actually read any of Leigh Bardugo’s other work. But when I heard she was publishing an adult novel, I was intrigued. And then I found out it was about secret societies and witchy occult magic and I was sold! Also the cover is stunning.

The Letter O

Other Words for Smoke – Sarah Maria Griffin

Other Words for Smoke is a very haunting, lyrical, fairytale-esque horror tale about an evil being in a house in Ireland. Dealing with the struggles of growing up alongisde the magic, Other Words for Smoke weaves a beautiful mystical world. Also there’s a talking cat. What else does a book need?! You can read my full review here!

Our Wayward Fate – Gloria Chao

A diverse book retelling of a Chinese folktale, set in small town America? Yes please! A book about family and racism and belonging, this sounds so excellent. I haven’t read American Panda but from reviews this book sounds like it’ll be a bit darker and heavier, and I am very interested to read.

That’s it for this week! Let me know what you think of this list – I hope you are excited for some of these as I am.

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist

Rach @ Anxious Nachos6 Comments

Title: Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publication date: 21 May 2019

Genre: Fantasy | Young adult

Page extent: 384 pages

Thank you Emma (the author) and Vicky Who Reads for running the giveaway in which I won a copy of this book.

Missing, Preusmed Dead combines elements of mystery, thriller, contemporary fantasy, romance and a dark, gritty atmosphere to create an intense and heart-racing book about ghosts and lonliness and death.

This book tells the story of Lexi, a girl who can sense when and how someone will die, and Jane, the girl Lexi didn’t try to save. When Jane returns as an angry ghost, Lexi tries to hunt down the murderer to help Jane. They get caught up in a bigger mystery though, as it turns out the murderer has killed before and plans to kill again.

This book was a LOT darker than I expected – which I am SO happy with. It was such a dark, gritty and grim setting and atmosphere. It really felt like we were halfway between life and death, you could sense the ‘wrongness’ in the atmosphere which was so effective in portraying Lexi’s state of mind.

I love the way Missing, Presumed Dead explores mental illness in a fantasy world. It’s so rare to read a book which looks at the mental impact of having magic. Lexi can sense when people will die. If she touches them, she views their death in all the horrifically, gruesome ways it happens. She can’t stand being around people because of it. She can’t stand crowds or friends or anything living because all she can see and taste and smell and hear are their deaths. So she’s lonely, depressed, struggling to find a reason to live. To get away from the constant sense of death, Lexi checks herself into a psychiatric ward when it becomes too much, the only place she can get any quiet. The way Lexi’s mental health is examined is absolutely phenomenal. Emma writes with such intense emotion and I felt a lump in my throat the whole book. It was just so well written and felt so real.

I also loved the mystery/thriller aspect of the book. I was absolutely hooked on the mystery, wanting to find out who or what was killing people. I loved the added creepiness of the paranormal activity. I loved the idea that ghosts are created from the energy of someone’s death – so those killed violently are angry, venegful ghosts. It was such an interesting theory, and seeing how Lexi’s power could interact with the dead to push them ‘on’ was so cool! I loved that the mystery held paranomal elements to it as well, so you were never really sure what was going on.

This book wasn’t quite what I expected – instead, it was a darker, grittier but SO FANTASTIC magical thriller. The portrayal of mental illness was so well done, and the way magic interacted with mental illness felt very unique. Plus, queer girls. Which is the cherry on top of an extremely great cupcake.

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Top 5 Tuesday: Alphabet, Part 2

Rach @ Anxious Nachos5 Comments

Top 5 Tuesday is created and run by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. You can join the fun by checking out the topics for the month here.

July topics for Top 5 Tuesday are themed with the way-more-difficult-than-expected books beginning with letters of the alphabet! Last week was A-E, and this week it’s F-J.

I’m afraid this is another week of TOTAL FAILURE for me. Apparently I seriously need to read books with a wider range of titles because it’s getting embarassing. So for letters I haven’t read anything I liked beginning with that letter, I’m recommending releases I am super excited about!

And as with last week, I am completely 100% ignoring ‘A’ and ‘The’…

The letter F

No surprises here, I will be recommending this book until I die. The Fever King is just an incredible, dystopian, queer book of sheer magic and pain. You can read my full review of this title here!

But because I recommend this book constantly, I also want to highlight a couple of releases still to come this year which I am very excited for! (And which actually begin with F….)

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett is a contemporary novel about a girl living with HIV (and ohmygosh I LOVE the cover so much!!) Frankly in Love by David Yoon is also contemporary about a Korean-American who has to fake-date a friend. I love the we-need-to-pretend-to-date trope and I can’t wait to see how it plays out!

The letter G

Girls of Paper and Fire is one of the most fantasies I’ve read recently. I started it before bed one night and immediately regretted everything because I was HOOKED. You can read my full review of the book here!

Godspeaker is a book I actually found from fanfiction. I used to read a LOT of Harry Potter fanfiction, and Tessa Crowley has an absolutely incredible Drarry fanfic (Chaos Theory if anyone is interested!) I finally got around to reading her self-pub fantasy novel this year and I enjoyed it so much! It has everything I love: Gods, queer romance, and lots of morally ambiguous behaviour.

The Gutter Prayer is an absolutely fantastic fantasy debut that was published earlier this year. I adored every single character, the worldbuilding was INCREDIBLE, and everyone should go check this book out!

The letter H

Okay so I’m afraid I really struggled with H…. I couldn’t think of anything I’ve read and liked. So I’m going with How to be Remy Cameron because I actually have an ARC of this book and I KNOW it’s going to be fantastic!

THEN, just as I was about to post this, I remembered Her Royal Highness!! This was a really fun and easy, queer, sapphic delight! I may be a little biased, coming from Scotland myself, but this book, whilst it lacked a bi of depth, was a fun and enjoyable read! I have a full review of this title here.

The letter I

WHAT?! A letter I have followed the rules and all books actually start with ‘I’ and no ‘the’s’ and I’ve read them all?!?

I Wish You All the Best is one of my favourite books of the year so far, it’s an absolutely heartbreaking story about a nonbinary teen who comes out to their parents and is kicked out of their home. You can read my full review for this title here!

If We Were Villains is very different to everything else on this list – it’s set at an expensive, exclusive Arts school, and follows a group of 6 drama students studying Shakespere. One of the teens has just been released from prison where he was spending time for murder. This is the story of what happened. OH MY GOD it is amazing and that ending…..

I Still Dream is a fantastic sci-fi I read last year about a girl, Laura, who develops an AI at 17. We follow Laura throughout her life as the AI develops and the world changes. The book looks at humanity and how we can impart our humanity into artificial intelligence. It’s one of my favourite books dealing with AI, and I totally think this could happen…

The letter J

Okay so J was a total fail. I don’t have a single book in my Goodreads read list beginning with J, let alone one I liked. And then I looked through my notepad I have where I list all the upcoming books I want to read….and I still have no books beginning with J?! BUT then I remembered the awesome review I read of Jade War recently (over at I Should Read That) so I am going with Fonda Lee’s Jade War and Jade City! This series sounds like an absolutely incredible and very unique new fantasy series and I really need to get onto reading it….

That’s it for this week! I’ve already worked out my books for next week and I promise I actually have books I have read for every single letter (and there’s no ‘A’ or ‘The’ in sight!)

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: The Sin Soldiers by Tracy Auerbach

Rach @ Anxious Nachos2 Comments

Title: The Sin Soldiers by Tracy Auerbach

Publisher: Parliament House Press

Publication date: 23 July 2019

Genre: Science fiction | Young adult

Page extent: 350 pages

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an electronic ARC in exhcange for an honest review.

Content warnings: implication of sexual assault (though never discussed), violence, addiction 

Sadly The Sin Soldiers is another recent read for me that had a very interesting concept but just didn’t quite work. There were lots of inconsistencies and I was just quite bored throughout, and didn’t care much for any of the characters.

Kai has been kidnapped by the Eastern Forces, and taken to a base where they inject teenagers with different compounds (meant to represent three of the seven sins – wrath, gluttony and sloth) in order to train them into soldiers. These compounds are created from crystals found on the planet. The soldiers are used to guard the mines and mine the crystals, which keep the Eastern Forces in power. Kai is brought to the compound and lives with three other characters, each on a different type of compound. 

I was quite disappointed by the book. I thought the premise of a sci-fi novel which examined addiction was really quite interesting, but I really just didn’t get into the book at all. All of the characters were just a bit meh. Their emotions and drive just changed constantly from page to page when they weren’t on the compounds. There was no consistency in their motivations at all. This seemed to be the case for the four MCs we’re supposed to root for, as well as the villains of the piece, the Eastern Forces. They’re supposed to be this really evil organisation, forcing drugs into young kids to make them zombie like creatures who’ll fight for them….and yet they let them have loving relationships? It just doesn’t make sense to me. I didn’t really find any of the villains particularly villainous. Kai, the POV we see from for most of the book wasn’t well developed. Her thoughts and feelings made no sense to me (for example, her level of hurt over the ‘betrayal’….by someone she met a day ago.) A lot of the motivations just didn’t really gel. 

The characters who came into play closer to the end, Aric and Dex, were equally confusing. Of all, I think Aric has the most potential. He’s characterised as more evil than the Eastern Forces, and this is successful – he comes across as quite creepy (and not inconsistently so!) so he’s definitely one of the better reads. Dex is just a mess who seems to not care at all for the sister he apparently spent a week worrying over and trying to rescue. I literally scoffed out loud when it got to his protective brother ‘stay away from my sister, champ’ speech. 

I don’t really have much to say about the plot. The book only lasts a week of time, and that’s just far too rushed for the amount of changes in character motivations. Perhaps the constant changing in motivation would’ve made more sense if it had actually happened over a longer period of time, instead of a day. 

I did think the concept and discussions around addiction were interesting, and I enjoyed the idea behind using these different compounds to evoke different responses in the soldiers. One of my favourite scenes was the glass in the tunnel scene, as I felt that really portrayed the evilness of the Eastern Forces as well as the trauma and feelings of addiction. I also thought the concept of the planet itself was great – I really like books based on the human race destroying Earth and embarking on a voyage to a new planet. Unfortunately, that was a very small part of the story and wasn’t mentioned much. I’d hoped we’d find out more about how the society began after escaping the dying Earth, but we didn’t. 

I really wanted to like this book. The concept was fantastic, the cover is AMAZING. I really enjoy reading books which have a good portrayal of mental illness. Unfortunately, this wasn’t it. I just didn’t get into this one – the characters really let it down for me. 

Paws out,
Rach + Draco