New Suns COVER BLAST

Hiya fellas! It'd been a while, hasn't it? Today I'm here with a slightly late post about this new and exciting anthology! I'll quickly share the details with you today and I hope you get as excited as I am by the time you are done!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

‘THERE’S NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN, BUT THERE ARE NEW SUNS,’
PROCLAIMED OCTAVIA E. BUTLER.

                New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color showcases emerging and seasoned writers of many races telling stories filled with shocking delights, powerful visions of the familiar made strange.

                 Between this book’s covers burn tales of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their indefinable overlappings. These are authors aware of our many possible pasts and futures, authors freed of stereotypes and clichéd expectations, ready to dazzle you with their daring genius.

Unexpected brilliance shines forth from every page.

TABLE OF CONTENTS – NEW SUNS, ed. Nisi Shawl.

·         Foreword, LeVar Burton

·         The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex, Tobias Buckell

·         Deer Dancer, Kathleen Alcalá

·         The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations, Minsoo Kang

·         Come Home to Atropos, Steven Barnes

·         The Fine Print, Chinelo Onwualu

·         unkind of mercy, Alex Jennings

·         Burn the Ships, Alberto Yáñez

·         The Freedom of the Shifting Sea, Jaymee Goh

·         Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire, E. Lily Yu

·         Blood and Bells, Karin Lowachee

·         Give Me Your Black Wings Oh Sister, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

·         The Shadow We Cast Through Time, Indrapramit Das

·         The Robots of Eden, Anil Menon

·         Dumb House, Andrea Hairston

·         One Easy Trick, Hiromi Goto

·         Harvest, Rebecca Roanhorse

·         Kelsey and the Burdened Breath, Darcie Little Badger

·         Afterword, Nisi Shawl

GUEST POST: Author Michael Phillip Cash

Hello, fellas! Today, I was supposed to share my May Wrap Up but why would I when I have a very interesting guest post instead! This is the first guest post on my blog and I'm so excited, haha! I've always wanted to do one. 

I big thank you to the author for the interesting topic and without further due, here it is!

BOOKISH PET PEEVES: YA Fantasy

Hello, fellas! Today I'm talking about some of my YA fantasy pet peeves. Lemme tell ya though that I DON'T like YA books but love most of the premises and ideas.

(Warning, this is going to be a LONG intro)

REREAD REVIEW: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Goodreads

In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

*****

Hiya, fellas! Today I'm talking about a recent reread of mine. I read A Discovery of Witches around 4 years ago and I loved it. I loved the plot, the characters and even the science in it. I am not a big fan of science so when a book offers me something that I wouldn't usually read, I like it.

Mini-Reviews: Tyrant's Throne, Shadowblack and Charmcaster

Hello, fellas! I've been very lazy and absent recently because all I've been doing is reading, writing and watching anime but I also don't have any ideas for posts.

Today, I am finally here with some mini-reviews of the last three books by Sebastien de Castell that I finally read.

Annoying Things Non-Readers Have Said To Me

I haven't been active lately because I started reading, writing and watching anime very frequently and I also didn't have any ideas for blog posts. I have also been more active on Instagram than ever. If you'd like me to write some reading or writing posts/updates or whatever, just let me know by commenting below.

As for this post, I was inspired by a recent Instagram conversation I had with a stranger who basically told me that I wasn't reading the right books and that I, to my utter surprise, was living in a fantasy world. Now, I am a lot of things but delusional isn't one of them. Anyway, this is what inspired me to do this post and I hope you like it.

Q&A with Mira Monroe

  Hiya, fellas, a while back I beta read and then reviewed Mira Monroe's book Magick and I as well decided to interview her because I am curious about a lot of things about her book and about being an indie author. She is a very nice person and agreed to this. Thank you, Mira! ^^

BLOG TOUR: Joshua N’Gon: Last Prince of Alkebulahn by Antony Hewitt

Hello, fellas! Today I have a blog tour for you. I haven't done one in a while, haha. I also am going to write a review for this book when I read it so stay tuned if you want to know something more about it!

April Wrap Up

Hiya fellas! I did my exam yesterday so I'm back! Today I'm sharing with you the books I read and the ones I couldn't finish. I read enough book this month but they are still less than I would have wanted to. It took me a lot of time to read some of them because I had to combine a lot of uni work and reading, I also had trouble with finding a good novel at the end of the month.

Mini-Reviews: Over Raging Tides and Hex Hall

Hiya, fellas! I'm here with some mini-reviews again.  I think I like these posts more and more. Do you? They are far easier to write and when I don't know how to write a nice and long review I just feel like writing something shorter instead.

Reflective Log (assessment)

   When I first started blogging four years ago I did not know anything about running a blog, how to get it out there or even writing reviews. I went through a lot of trials and errors which I believe helped me a lot in this assessment when it comes to my blog posts. The module proved to be more than helpful in teaching me how to run it.

Social Media Strategy (assessment)

   Considering the past experience I have from my Bulgarian blog, I decided to mainly use Facebook as a way of getting more traffic to my blog. I joined several book-related Facebook groups where I share my posts every time I publish them and that is how my blog gets the majority of its traffic. 

Easter Break Recap (assessment)

Hey, fellas! Today I'm sharing another part of my university assessment. I was clearly not born to talk in front of a camera, I get all excited and start messing up my words. Anyway, at least you could find it funny to watch.

A Dream Come True (assessment)

  Today I'm going to literally talk about a dream come true. This is an audio piece I did for uni and it isn't as good as I hoped it'd be.

Mini Reviews: Aru Shah and the End of Time and Daughter of the Siren Queen

Hi fellas! Today, I'm sharing some more mini-reviews with you. I tried writing proper ones but failed terribly so I decided to write something short.

Top 3 of my Auto-Buy Authors

Hi, fellas! Today's post is about my auto-buy authors which basically means that I'm going to talk about writers whose books I buy on the spot without having to read the synopsis or reviews beforehand. I have several of them but I decided to share with you my Top Three and I may even do a part two in the future. 

3 Books I Want To Re-Read

 I've been thinking a lot recently about some of the books I've read years ago and I concluded that there are some that I really want to read again. Here is a short list of novels that I want to reread.

REVIEW: Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

Goodreads 

There are three things that earn you a man’s name among the Jan’Tep. The first is to demonstrate the strength to defend your family. The second is to prove you can perform the high magic that defines our people. The third is simply to reach the age of sixteen. I was a few weeks shy of my birthday when I learned that I wouldn’t be doing any of those things.

Magic is a con game.

Kellen is moments away from facing his first mage's duel and the start of four trials that will make him a spellcaster. There's just one problem: his magic is gone. As his sixteenth birthday approaches, Kellen falls back on his cunning in a bid to avoid total disgrace. But when a daring stranger arrives in town, she challenges Kellen to take a different path. Ferius Parfax is one of the mysterious Argosi - a traveller who lives by her wits and the three decks of cards she carries. She's difficult and unpredictable, but she may be Kellen's only hope... 

  Sebastien de Castell quickly became one of my favourite authors after I read Traitor's Blade in September last year. Even tough Spellslinger wasn't as good as his debut novel, I still loved it despite the few problems I had with it.

REVIEW: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Goodreads Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.  But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.  Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for the enemy.

I enjoyed Tomi Adeyemi's debut novel but the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it just wasn't as good as everybody else made it be in my opinion. As you probably know already, I really dislike books written in present tense (and I keep stumbling across them!) because it (the tense) makes it very hard for me to connect to the characters, especially when I can't relate to them.

Mini-Reviews: Obsidio, Hero at the Fall, School for Good and Evil, Wisps of Memory

   Hello, fellas! Are you in the mood for some mini-reviews? If not, that's a shame since this is what I'm doing today. I'm really bad at writing short reviews but I'm trying to review almost every book I read and when I don't want to go into details about a certain novel I'll be doing these mini-reviews. I kinda like them.

  Anyway, let's get started.

March Wrap Up

  Hello, fellas, it's time for my March Wrap Up! I read 7 books last month and I even wanted to count Children of Blood and Bone as read in March but I finished it on the 1st of April so I decided not to cheat.

January & February Wrap Up

Let's pretend that this post isn't super late. I always forget to do these posts and I even thought I could include March's books as well BUT I decided agains it because I read a lotta books and they deserve their own post.

Some of the books's titles are links to their review (If they have one) either on Goodreads or on my blog.

My Book Un-haul

Hello, fellas! I recently went back home for the Easter break and one of the first things I did was to attempt to hug my beautiful shelves! (I failed.) The second thing was to take out some of the books I plan to never read and just give them to my friend because 1) I don't have shelf space and 2) she would read them... at some point. So today I'm gonna show you the books I decided to give her! (Since they are in Bulgarian and it's kinda pointless to take photos of them, I decided to just take the pictures from Goodreads.)

BOOK BLITZ: Servent of Rage by A. Z. Anthony

Hello, fellas! I just got back home after being away for 6 months and it feels fantastic!

So today, I'm doing a book blitz of Servant of Rage, the book sounds amazing and I know that I would be checking it out very soon. What about you?

Servant of Rage
A.Z. Anthony
(Bloodrage Trilogy #1)
Publication date: April 3rd 2018
Genres: Adult, Fantasy

To kill an heir is to claim their power. But at what cost?

REVIEW: Magick by Mira Monroe

Magick by Mira Monroe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(Review from 2016)

I was given this advanced reading copy of Magick for an honest review from the author. A couple of months ago she asked me to be her beta-reader and when I was done I thought the book had potential so I asked her to tell me when it's done.

Now let's begin with the review.

Top 5 Wednesday : Favourite Science Fiction & Fantasy in Other Media

Hello, fellas! Today is the day we don't talk about books. Today is about TV shows, Films and Anime. I have a lot to share, but I'm not very good at talking about TV shows so this post might get a little too boring. (Yes, more than usual.)

Favourite Book Quotes

Hello, fellas! Today's post is all about my favourite book quotes! It was originally inspired by Top 10 Tuesday's March the 6th's topic that I missed and now I decided to do it!

My complicated relationship with Tower of Dawn

Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken.

His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica—the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them.

But what they discover in Antica will change them both—and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.

DISCLAIMER!

If you haven't read Throne of Glass, don't read this due to unintentional spoilers.

Mini Reviews: Books I Haven't Properly Reviewed

  Hello, fellas! Today I'm here with some mini-reviews of books I haven't properly reviewed for one reason or another. Some books are too big (or I just don't have that much to say), others are a part of a series and so on and so forth. I haven't really done a mini-review before so let us hope I do them well enough. (I don't know why but the majority of my reviews, even the positive ones, consist of rants...)

BLOG TOUR: Take Your Medicine by Hannah Carmack

Hello, fellas! I am happy to present to you this beautiful and interesting book today! And I also wanted to let you know that this is my last post for this week (thank God) and next week I'm gonna share some quotes (hopefully) and reviews (if I write them). I am also currently reading To Kill A Kingdom so... Some new books' reviews coming soon! (hopefully)

Title:  Take Your Medicine

Author: Hannah Carmack

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: March 5, 2018

Heat Level: 1 - No Sex

Pairing: Female/Female

Length: 24, 400

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy, LGBT, YA, chronic illness, coming out, lesbian

BOOK BLITZ : The Facility by Sarah Elkins

Hello again, fellas! I've been too active recently and today. Wow! I didn't think that I was going to do it but well... That's what you get when you sign up for everything thinking that you won't be approved for half the things but then you get approved for everything! 

COVER REVEAL: The Watchers by Misty Hayes

  Hello, fellas! I hope you had a nice Monday (or at least as nice as a Monday can be) because I am here today (again) with another reveal of a gorgeous cover! My schedule is quite the busy one this week but I love having to share content with you! 

  So apparently, this is a sequel and it sounds very interesting, does it not? I'll leave you the details to decide for yourself but god (!) this cover!

The Watchers
Misty Hayes
(The Blood Dagger: Volume 2)
Publication date: December 15th 2018
Genres: Paranormal, Thriller, Young Adult

COVER REVEAL: Never Touched by Laney Wylde

  Hello, fellas! Today I am doing my first cover reveal and boy, am I excited! Isn't it beautiful? And the book sounds interesting as well, definitely something I'd like to read! 

Never Touched
Laney Wylde
Published by: Crimson Tree Publishing
Publication date: November 12th 2018
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

REVIEW: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Amazon | Book Depository

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

I was provided with a copy by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I loved this book! When I first picked it up I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know how much I'd like it and I was just left craving for more.

Top 5 Wednesday - Favourite Urban Fantasy Books

Hello, fellas! I've been feeling very uninspired to blog recently BUT I have a lot of ideas about some posts so I decided to try and conquer this laziness and lack of motivation of mine. I'm even trying to read more again and get back to my old routine.

This week's topic is my favourite of the month, I didn't like the previous ones because I had to think about everything very hard in order to come up with something.

So, without any further due, let's get started!

The books aren't going to be in a particular order!

7 Reasons I Love High/Epic Fantasy Novels

  I was thinking (surprising even myself) that I want to grow my blog but... how do I do that if I don't post? So here I am on Sunday (when I was supposed to post, oops) writing this post for Monday (what's a schedule???) and trying (and failing) to be funny entertaining.

REVIEW: Cursed by Lucy Leroux

Get on AMAZON

Isobel Sterling is a governess with many secrets—including an uncanny ability she's been hiding her whole life, until the day arrives when she has to use it to save herself from a madman. But first she has to master it. Fast.

Governess Isobel Sterling feels fortunate to have found a safe haven in the Montgomery household. The children are kind and the lord and lady of the house leave her alone. Just when her life seems as good as it can get, mysterious visitors arrive from abroad.

At first Isobel is flattered by the single-minded attention she receives from their handsome young guest, Matteo Garibaldi. But when girls in the village go missing, Isobel has a terrible suspicion the disappearances are linked to the darkness she can see growing behind Matteo's eyes. Filled with dread, she tries to avoid his company—until she is locked in with him for the night.

Why didn't I read this book (that I received a copy of for an honest review) sooner! Whyyyyy! IT. IS. AMAZING!

Bookish Confessions

Hiya, fellas! Today I'm confessing all of my bookish sins!

1. When I don't have a bookmark nearby (which is a rarity but still) I get very tempted to dog-ear the page of a book BUT(!) I don't.

REVIEW: Carry On by Rainbow Rowel

Amazon | Book Depository

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.

That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here — it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.

A little DISCLAIMER here:

I did NOT like the book and my review is negative BUT this is only MY opinion and I'm not trying to convince anybody into agreeing with it.

Actual rating 2,5 stars

I like Fangirl . I like gay stories. I support LGBTQQ+ and all.

BUT this book was just less than I expected. Less then it should have been. Everything was less.

REVIEW: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

                                                        

Amazon | Book Depository

Choose:

A quick death…

Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

When I started reading Poison Study, I didn't have high expectations but halfway through the book, I decided that I wanted the rest of the series. I also read it in a day and now I just don't want to read anything else until I get my hands on the second one. 

Top 5 Wednesday - Hidden gems in Your Favourite Genre

  After being too lazy to post for a week (binge-watching One Piece) I'm back with a Top 5 Wednesday post. The titles of the books are links to Amazon (or BookDepository) where you can see their synopsis and prices.

  This Wednesday's topic was pretty challenging actually because I couldn't think of hidden gems which sounds pretty bad. However, most of the time, the underrated books I'd have given in my Bulgarian blog are actually pretty popular around the world so I had to make do with the books that I think are underrated.

6 Reasons to Read the Greatcoats by Sebastien de Castell

  This picture turned out to be way too small but I'm no master PhotoShopper so I'll make do with it.

  As you could probably guess from the title, today I'm going to tell you why I highly recommend you the Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell.