The Book Wyrms Hoard

Sadly, this is a bit of a slow month for me, but honestly, the quality of these books makes up for it! Nothing under four stars for the month is a pretty good run if you ask me! On with the books, since that image is incredibly tiny. Sheesh. On with the books! 1. The Hiding by Alethea Lyons ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2. Apprentice to the Villain Book 2 of Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3. Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murder by Aliette de Bodard Book 1 of Dragons and Blades Book 3.5 of Dominion of the Fallen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4. Dance of Shadows by Gourav Mohanty Book 2 of The Raag of Rta ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5. The God and the Gwisin Book 2 of Fate's Thread by Sophie Kim ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6. Starter Villain by John Scalzi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 7. The Apothecary Diaries Light Novel Vol. 1 by Natsu Hyuuga ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 8. Dra-Q1 Vol. 1 by Chiyo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 9. 23:45 by Ohana ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 10. Dead Rock by Hiro Mashima ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 11. The Ghost Princess by M. Walsh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 12. User Not Found by Dani Finn ⭐️⭐...

On the island country of San Irie, many people have the power to summon Ancestrals, manifestations of their recently deceased family members that enhance their strength and speed. Faron Vincent, however, is unique because she can summon the Gods and because of her unique ability as the Childe Emperyean she, along with her sister Elera and the young Queen Avaline were able to secure the freedom of San Irie's people from the Langlish Empire through a truly brutal war. Now, five years later, Faron at seventeen is revered almost as a god herself, which she finds unnerving, to say the least. Her older sister Elera will do anything to get out from under her younger sister's shadow to prove that she can too can protect Faron and the people of San Irie. What both of these sisters do not realize is that their love for each other and their driving need to protect one another at all costs will play right into the hands of ancient evil that the gods may not even be able to stop...

After reading this volume, Remnants is my new favorite series by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou. Honestly, the writing just seems more mature than even The Husky and his White Cat Shizun, especially whatever messed up plot ultimately caused Gu Mang to defect. Because there is a ton more to unpack there (obviously) but I have a feeling the Emperor is going to be at the center of it and I hope they get to take him out, because quite frankly he's a jerk.  The relationship between Gu Mang and Mo Xi is so freaking heartbreaking and complicated, though. There is definitely this feeling that if Mo Xi had maybe tried to be *less* of a noble before Gu Mang's defection, none of this would have even happened. While I understand Mo Xi's feelings in terms of Lu Zhanxing's role in this whole mess, I don't necessarily think Lu was entirely *wrong*. What I do think is that everyone around Gu Mang should stop making decisions for him, Mo Xi included. That being said, I don't thi...

Dr. Greta Van Helsing's demon transportation, Harlach, is late, which is something he has never been. As she waits at the pre-arranged bench, he is always at when she leaves her clinic she's not really worried, and she's not quite irritated yet. Just as she is working up to one or the other, Harlach appears out of nowhere and poofs them to her husband Varney's home, where it becomes clear that something is very wrong with Harlach. He reveals that someone shot him with something like a blow dart and he appears to be having an allergic reaction to it, knowing there's no way she can treat him on this plane she has him sent to Hell.  In the meantime, Harlach's angelic counterpart, Haliel, has had a similar experience but was able to shrug it off almost immediately. He reports the incident to his boss Gabriel and thinks nothing of it. Until he discovers that his colleague, his friend, Harlach, did not recover so quickly and easily. Both of them determine ...

This was wonderful. When Finn first announced it a few days ago I assumed this would be well depressing, but in keeping with what seems to be the status quo for so many Queer authors recently this was a celebration of Queerness, but most especially being Transgender in a time when that is a very scary prospect. I loved all of the characters so much, Jack, especially, of course, but Nita and Bee were amazing as well. I loved that Jack was someone who discovered who they because of the fascist regime they work for. This in particular I think really drives home the point that no matter how hard our current administration tries they can never erase Transgender humans of the world.  I highly recommend this for a quick reminder that no matter how bad it gets, there will always be someone there to help you up. 

When I first requested this from NetGalley, I had never heard of Joyce Chng, and full disclosure it was the cover that attracted me. But it was also the cover that solidified for me after reading maybe a few sentences of th3 synopsis that there was simply now way this would be bad. That was the understatement of the decade. This book will have a place of prominence on my shelves for the rest of my existence. Chng's stories felt so deeply personal to her that at times, I felt like I had stumbled upon their open diary and felt guilty for continuing to read. And yet, there were so many times when it felt like Chng had written the story specifically for me. They somehow knew something about myself. I just didn't know, and this was their way of telling me.  This was simply the greatest collection of short stories I have ever read. A collection I know I will reread hundreds of times over in my lifetime when I need them to encourage me. Quite honestly, I can not thank them...

When a strange set of occurrences lead a group of complete strangers on a collision course where half of them want the world to end, the other half want to save it, and one man in particular just really isn't supposed to be here a hero will emerge...okay I'm lying a girl with a serious case of PTSD, a half Succubus half Orc demon, and a man with a curse will emerge and well fuck some shit up, which will definitely result in the world being saved. At least for the moment.  Holy fuck this was hands down the surprise 5 star read of the year for me. And I'm going to be completely honest every review prior to mine is what made me move it to the very tippy top of my TBR, because I had barely read the prologue and was already hooked when when I saw some of the ratings.  Ghost Princess was absolutely unlike anything I have ever read and yet reminded me of some of my favorite books and anime. Walsh took some of the most obnoxious tropes ever and made them absolutely freaking...

This post is going to be a tad bit different as it'll contain the first volumes of several Manga. It didn't really make sense to make individual posts for each since I'm reading them all at the same time plus they are all pretty short and sweet. And with that on to the reviews! Dra-Q1 by Chiyo I think its gotta be said: Much better love story than Twilight 😅. Okay at least so far, it is only volume 1. Just a surprisingly short manga about a 160 yr old vampire falling in love with a human boy. It was pretty darn cute, had some really amazing art, perfect amount of action, and the cliffhanger ending ensures that I'll definitely be reading volume 2! Thanks as always to Kodansha and NetGalley for the eArc! 23:45 by Ohana This was just adorable and a little heart breaking but omg so adorable. I dont want to give to much away but I enjoyed how Ohana handles this immensely, I would have been so sad if there wasn't a future for these two. The art is...

I watched the anime for Apothecary Diaries first and I'm happy to report that it follows the light novel pretty faithfully. Except in one aspect: Maomao is so much more standoffish in the book than she is in the show. She is also a hundred times more clueless about Jinshi than she is in the anime too, or at least that's how it came across to me. I'm genuinely not sure which version of Maomao I like more, though. This version of her really seems to almost genuinely hate Jinshi, like to the point where I found her maybe being a little too hard on the guy. Which hey probably the point, but, I wasn't expecting that. It didn't detract from the story, though, since I still gave it five stars.  What I loved and what attracted me to the show as well is just how absolutely herself Maomao is. She knows people think she's a little weird and she never lets that bother her and I love that. Her confidence in herself and her abilities is what makes this series amaz...

As a human that has worked in some portion of the financial industry for about twenty years, I have to start this off by saying that there were many, many concepts regarding how the financial world, especially relating to the 1% worked, I wished the general populace understood. On that level alone I'd have given this five stars. Anyone able to make some of the most mundane things regarding financial industry deserves the entire world. And in the vein I am seriously considering reaching out to Scalzi to rewrite our entire CE program because omfg it's so boring. Okay not really but oh did it cross my mind several times.  Moving on.  Honestly, this was surprisingly cozy for lack of a better term. I adored Charlie's wit and cool under pressure head. The fact that he only loses his shit once is amazing. I fist pumped when he saw through The Convocations "offer" for the scam that it was, which in all honesty allows him to be consistently a half a step ahead ...

After Hani sacrifices herself to save the world Seokga spends the next twenty six years desperately waiting for her reincarnation. With no hope on the horizon he is absolutely ecstatic when one evening a Red Thread appears on his pinky, knowing this could only mean one thing he rushes off, following the thread, only for it to become a confusing tangled mess almost immediately. With hope filling him he spends the next seven years chasing the Red Thread to the very ends of the Earth.  Yoo Risa is entirely sure she is hallucinating when a Red Thread appears on her pinky finger in 2018. It wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination if she was as an overworked OB at Seoul's Shamanic Hospital she knows she been pushed to her very limits, why else would she be testing her own mortality by sitting on the edge of the roof? As she contemplates how everything in her life has gone so very wrong up till this point something happens, she slips falling to her death at twenty-two, ne...

Twenty years after the close of the Pretenders War, Elvine Jurrest finds herself all but prisoner to the Sister Queens after being caught worshipping the Martyrs. Forced to go with Felnir Redtooth, a man both disgraced and feared in Ascarlia for one reprehensible act to find the Vaults of Altvar. As Felnir and Elvine set off to find myths and legends, Felnir's sister, Thera, is sent to the Northern Isles to put down what appears to be a rebellion, but she quickly determines that it is not a rebellion but an all out invasion from peoples no one even knew existed. As both parties face attacks from every side, they come to realize that the very heart of Ascarlia is rotten to its core.  Ryan is an auto read author for me, so when I saw this up on Netgalley I requested it, didn't read the synopsis, barely glanced at the cover and then did a little happy dance when I realized it was a continuation of the Covenant of Steel series. If you've read a review by almost anyone who read ...