🇬🇧 bookish reviews 🇳🇱
The Swan’s Daughter is the newest novel by a favorite author of mine: Roshani Chokshi. And it was glorious. I seriously have no idea how to describe this book except maybe a happy dark fairytale? It feels cosy and funny, all the while horrific things happen. It has a special kind of magic as you… Continue reading The Swan’s Daughter – Roshani Chokshi
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri is such a unique book! I can honestly say I never encountered one like this before. The Island is made up of stories, stories that are repeated again and again by reincarnated replica’s of the original story (sort of, it gets clearer in the book but… Continue reading The Isle in the Silver Sea – Tasha Suri
The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson was one of my most anticipated reads of this year, as I loved the Remnant Chronicles and then loved the Dance of Thieves duology even more! Therefore I was excited to receive an e-arc (all opinions are my own), and dove into the book right away.… Continue reading The Courting of Bristol Keats – Mary E. Pearson
A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher is a perfect example of why I love T. Kingfisher’s books so much. I absolutely loved everything! The first chapter is soooo creepy, and with an epic first line “There was a fly walking on Cordelia’s hand, and she was not allowed to flick it away.” you… Continue reading A Sorceress Comes To Call – T. Kingfisher
De vergeten vloek van Britt Zwijnenberg is een retelling van Beauty and the Beast/Belle en het beest, maar dan nét even anders. Allereerst, ik vind het echt bijzonder hoe een kort verhaal zoveel diepte en plot kan bevatten, het was echt alsof ik een heel boek las! Ik ben zelf ook groot fan van korte… Continue reading De vergeten vloek – Britt Zwijnenberg
The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song is a Mulan retelling set in a fantasy world resembling ancient China. Meilin lives with her addicted and abusive father in relative peace, until she must marry with a man who seems to be just as abusive as her father. Meilin decides she wants freedom, wants to… Continue reading The Night Ends with Fire – K.X. Song
Lang leve de keizer van Britt Zwijnenberg is een fantasy van eigen bodem. We volgen Usiu, een 16-jarig meisje dat haar hele leven heeft gehoord dat de keizer het beste met haar land voor heeft en voor voorspoed heeft gezorgd, maar fel tegen magie is. Dan blijkt dat ze zelf magie heeft, en geeft ze… Continue reading Lang Leve de Keizer – Britt Zwijnenberg
I think it is hard to describe an action packed book with necromancers and a haunting ex wife as “wholesome” but here I am, doing just that! Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black feels as a fluffy D&D campaign. We have Logan, our fighter, who is retired from fighting monsters to live with… Continue reading Til Death Do Us Bard – Rose Black
A Prayer for Vengeance by Leanne Schwartz is a story about a girl turned to stone, and an autistic boy who accidently revives her. I couldn’t wait to read this one, as autism rep in a fantasy story is quite rare. But this book is so much more than just autism, there are so many… Continue reading A Prayer for Vengeance – Leanne Schwartz
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh is one of the most suprising books I read this year. Despite it being an action driven book, it has so much depth and the character growth is *chef’s kiss. First things first: the earth is gone. Like gone gone, including everyone that lived on it. A few survivors… Continue reading Some Desperate Glory – Emily Tesh
This is the year T. Kingfisher took over my TBR and my monthly favorites. I try to read other books in between so I won’t reach a book slump, but it’s hard as they keep staring at me… so imagine my joy when I got an e-arc of T. Kingfisher’s newest book: Thornhedge! I was… Continue reading Thornhedge – T. Kingfisher
I was very excited I got to read an e-arc of Thief, Liar, Lady by D.L. Soria, as she is one of my autobuy authors. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley, but this hasn’t influenced this review. This book had all the right ingredients: Cinderella turned upside down, a long con, court intrigue, magic,… Continue reading Thief Liar Lady – D.L. Soria
Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong is a Shakespeare retelling of Antony and Cleopatra, targeting an adult audience this time. I have to admit I didn’t really like her YA retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but an adult retelling of a play I actually do like (I cannot emphasize how much I hate Romeo and Juliet),… Continue reading Immortal Longings – Chloe Gong
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman is a book about books. The love for books, the way they can save a person or impact a life. And for that message alone, I’d like to give it all the stars. But it’s also about a mother’s love in more than one way (there is also a… Continue reading The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera is an original, poetic story about finding your place in the world. At least, for me that is the theme. I have a mixed feelings about this book, at the one hand it was very good, and on the other hand I almost DNFed it. The writing… Continue reading The Saint of Bright Doors – Vajra Chandrasekera
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten is a mesmerizing fast paced fantasy with many twists and turns.We follow Lore, a poison runner for her two moms, which is quite illegal in this fantasy world where poison can lengthen your life, if taken correctly. Lore also has death magic, which is a bit mysterious and hazy… Continue reading The Foxglove King – Hannah Whitten
From the first page, the beautiful prose of this novella gripped me and never let me go. I was absolutely mesmerized by all the flowing sentences, how it made the story somehow bigger. Arch-conspirator is a retelling of the Greek tragedy of Antigone, and I'd never heard of it before. I debated if I should… Continue reading Arch-conspirator – Veronica Roth
One For All has something unique: POTS rep! As I have POTS myself, I thought I’d start with this, as for me this is one of the best of the stories: to feel seen. Of course the rep was amazing as it’s ownvoices, but also the narrative surrounding disability was amazing and very recognizable. How… Continue reading One For All – Lillie Lainoff
In het vervloekte hart is een fantasy verhaal met horror elementen, geïnspireerd op koloniaal Suriname. Ik hou ervan als een boek diepe thema’s heeft en dat was zeker het geval bij dit boek! De lijnen met de geschiedenis zijn subtiel, maar als je er iets van af weet kun je het zeker terugzien, dat is… Continue reading In het vervloekte hart – Rima Orie
Vespertine was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021, so I was not happy when it took months for my preorder copy to arrive, and when it was postponed to a year I decided to cancel and pay triple money for one that suprisingly would arrive a day later (that never happens, to get… Continue reading Vespertine – Margaret Rogerson
Yellow Mockingjay 