Titles marked with an asterisk (*) were gifted to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
It's New Year's Eve! Can you believe the year has flown by already? It's gone by so quickly! I swear, the older I get, the quicker the years go by!
But it's the time of year when I look back over my reading and blogging over the past year, and share what my plans are for the next. So without further ado, onwards!
In this mesmerizing sequel to the New York Times bestselling Girls of Paper and Fire, Lei and Wren have escaped their oppressive lives in the Hidden Palace, but soon learn that freedom comes with a terrible cost.
Lei, the naive country girl who became a royal courtesan, is now known as the Moonchosen, the commoner who managed to do what no one else could. But slaying the cruel Demon King wasn't the end of the plan---it's just the beginning. Now Lei and her warrior love Wren must travel the kingdom to gain support from the far-flung rebel clans. The journey is made even more treacherous thanks to a heavy bounty on Lei's head, as well as insidious doubts that threaten to tear Lei and Wren apart from within.
Meanwhile, an evil plot to eliminate the rebel uprising is taking shape, fueled by dark magic and vengeance. Will Lei succeed in her quest to overthrow the monarchy and protect her love for Wren, or will she fall victim to the sinister magic that seeks to destroy her? From Goodreads.
WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the previous book in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.
Rep: Malaysian characters (A high fantasy world inspired by Malaysia). No labels, but there is an f/f relationship involving the protagonist and a secondary character, and an m/m relationship involving secondary characters.
Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vague sex scenes, inuendo, blood, vomit, discussion of rape and sexual assault, kidnap, death, murder, dead bodies - including burnt dead bodies, aftermath of a village burned to the ground, funerals, war and battles.
As I've mentioned on the blog before, I am kind of creative. I get really into the idea of creating things and being arty, I've tried so many things - drawing, jewellery making, card making (paper craft), painting, happy mail... But I've found that while I get excited at the idea of creating something and being arty, if it takes too long, I lose interest and motivation. If I can't see myself making progress fairly quickly, if I can see it's going to take me several days, if not weeks, to complete - or it I'm not very good, and so it's going to take a while to make what I'm doing look the way I want to - I give up.
One day to go! Christmas Eve! Tomorrow is Christmas Day! I am so excited! As you've probably worked out, Christmas is my favourite time of the year, so for my seventh Christmas post of the month, I wanted to talk about the different aspects of Christmas that I love - things that are outside of the day itself.
Althalus, burglar, armed robber, is paid to steal a book by a sinister stranger named Ghend. Althalus sets off to the House at the End of the World where the book is kept. There, in the same room as the book Ghend described, he finds a talking cat. What he can't finds when he turns around is the door by which he entered.
By the time he sets out again, Althalus can read. He's read the book and discovered that the evil god Daeva is trying to unmake the world. The cat, whom Althalus calls Emerald, is in fact the god's sister, and she needs Althalus to prevent Daeva returning them all to primordial chaos. Althalus will have to teach her what she needs to know, whih is how to lie, cheat and steal - 'Whatever works,' Emerald reflects.
Althalus is the first and foremost of a band of colourful helpers who will battle Daeva and his bizarre, deadly minions. The existence of the worls hangs in the balance in this glorious epic fantasy. From the blurb.
Titles marked with a (^) are ad: affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through them, I'll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Titles marked with an asterisk (*) were gifted to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
It's coming towards the end of the year, and it's that time when we start talking about our favourite books of 2019. My proper list of favourites will come at the end of the month, but today, I'm taking part in 2019 Christmas Songs Book Tag, created by Jana of That Artsy Reader Girl. You can answer these questions about any books you've read, but I've decided I'm going to focus on books I've read this year.
Christmas is only a couple of weeks away now, and if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know I'm starting to get pretty excited! Christmas has always been something special to me, and that's probably down to my family's Christmas traditions.
This Friday 13th is one of the most joyful and festive of the year - maybe second to Christmas Day itself! Why? It's Christmas Jumper Day!
For those who don't know, Christmas Jumper Day is a fundraising scheme from Save the Children, started in 2012, where schools and workplaces - or even individuals - donate £1-£2 (depending on age) to the charity and wear a Christmas Jumper.
This was originally posted on The Olive Fox before the online magazine closed. It has been edited slightly for Once Upon a Bookcase.
Christmas is a big deal for me. It’s important, it’s special, and it’s meaningful. As an atheist, the religious significance of Christmas doesn’t hold any great weight, but it’s still a sacred time of year. It has nothing to do with the presents, the big dinner, or the great TV. For me, the meaning of Christmas is love and family.
Show a Little Kindness Whilst Christmas Shopping this December
Christmas is almost upon us, and so begins the rush to buy Christmas presents. Most of our shopping is likely to be done online, but there are still those of us who like to brave the freezing temperatures and go to physical brick and mortar shops. You'll be busy; you might be in a flap because you're struggling to find the exact gift you want; you might also be in a rush - but I ask you to please think of the retail staff when you engage with them.
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