Tome Thursday: Firebird

 

Hello everyone!

 

So I have a confession to make.

 

I had another book lined up and ready to go for tonight. In all honesty, I generally have my posting schedule for this blog handled WELL in advance, because I tend to read a lot, and when you read a lot, you have a list so you keep track of everything.

 

This means that, when something shoots into it like a comet from the sky, you need to adjust, and FAST.

 

I was going to go for a short and sweet kind of story, but that one now got bumped to next week.

 

Tonight's choice blazed into life over the course of this weekend when I sat down and was like, alright, fair, let's see what this is all about since people are talking about the sequel all over BookTok at this point.

 

Not that I follow a lot of BookTok, but it sometimes bleeds into my Youtube and Bookstagram, of course.

 

Without further ado, it's time to travel to the past, fling some magic into the air, and pretend that we know what we're doing with this shape-shifting thing.

 

That's Juliette Cross' Firebird for you.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Disney Princess Villains Unite

 

"Evil is here." 

 

 Hello everyone!

 

In continuing with last week's theme, we're taking a look at the direct sequel to the Castle Quest animated feature.

 

And before you come at me after you open the thing up and see its short length: I wanted to feature it solo because I thought it's hilarious, ok?

 

Even though it's barely half what the OG special is long.

 

But anyway.

 

The Disney Princesses are back, people! And so is Gaston.

 

And they've got a new adventure ahead of them, or perhaps misadventure, so without further ado let's see exactly what they're up against.

 

Because you just know it's gonna be great when it says the title is Villains Unite!

 

Talkie Tuesday: Disney Princess Castle Quest

 

"The path will be clear if you search inside." 

 

Hello everyone!

 

In a slight deviation from my usual watch lists, I went with something light, fluffy, and quick to see through yesterday.

 

And also, I had TONS of fun while I was at it haha!

 

Disney tends to come up with some really great skits every once in a while.

 

When they pair it up with LEGO? Oh then you've got yourself something SPECIAL.

 

I've covered a bunch of Star Wars-related ones on this page before, but this is the first time I'm seeing something with the Disney Princesses, and boy was it fun to go through.

 

I mean, when you have a frying pan, an axe, and a key as weapons all tangled together in a quest to beat Gaston .. let's just say it'll make sense once you finish reading this.

 

Without further ado: LEGO Disney Princess Castle Quest!

 

Tome Thursday: Captivated by Dominik

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome back to the world of Sziveria, the post-apocalyptic situation people find themselves in when they read Sarah Westill's novels.

 

If you've been following me on this blog for a bit, then you'll know I've pretty much devoured every single Gen-Heirs book that's come out from under her pen, or, keyboard I suppose.

 

Because despite the fact that I stumbled into the world completely by accident, thinking it was going to be more romance than adventure, I ended up falling head-over-heels, and literally scrambling to get copies of the books as they were releasing.

 

My next goal this year is to grab them all so I have them ready at a moment's notice and sitting pretty on my shelves! So, you know, challenge accepted haha.

 

But until then, I'll just be reading the e-book versions.

 

And the new series is now hard-launched into orbit, so here we go.

 

Welcome back to Sziveria, and to the Ralston clan, with Captivated by Dominik!

 

Talkie Tuesday: Barbie in the Nutcracker

 

"How could I say no to the King?"

 

Hello everyone! 

 

And welcome to the last movie blog of the year before Christmas hits us.

 

Can you believe it's ACTUALLY just around the corner? Tomorrow night is Christmas Eve!

 

I'm not entirely sure where the time went, because I could have sworn that we were melting from the summer heat just yesterday, and now here we are.

 

I suppose time does fly when you're having fun, right?

 

But without further ado, we're going WAY back in time for tonight's choice of movie.

 

Well, maybe 'way back' is a bit of an exaggeration - but it's definitely 24 years ago, if nothing else. And we're going to be dancing - like, a lot.

 

So make sure to dust off those tutus and break in them ballet shoes, because this story takes flight against the backdrop of Tchaikovsky's music.

 

Nothing says Christmas like Barbie in the Nutcracker.

 

Tome Thursday: Hunted by the Undead

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to tonight's book of choice for the blog.

 

And dare I say, it's yet another banger?

 

To be honest though, I tend to only post the good ones on here, rather than ones I sometimes stumble upon that I either don't finish, or barely make myself finish (yes, they are the rarest of gems as I'm basically a black hole for reading, but they DO exist, I promise).

 

I think I might have only really posted a bad book review on here maybe once or twice, but that's about it.

 

As far as things go, it's only positives, bby!

 

Now without further ado, let's hop right into it, shall we?

 

We're revisiting one of my absolute favourite authors with her newest release that just hit the shelves this month, and it's time to brush off our knowledge of elemental magic for this.

 

Ladies and gentlemen: C. L. Carhart's Hunted by the Undead.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Sleeping Beauty

 

"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to the movie section of this blog post.

 

We're finally back after taking that slightly unplanned break last week, and let me tell you, I picked a classic for tonight's choice.

 

I mean, I thought it was going to be a classic to begin with before I started watching (or re-watching ... I actually can't remember if I've ever seen this one before), but then I sat down and watched and ... I have thoughts LOL.

 

I'll be explaining them down below as I move through the plot, I promise.

 

But without further ado, let's jump straight into it, shall we?

 

Time and tide - and in this case, fairies - wait for no man or woman.

 

Although they might make a mess of a lot of things in Sleeping Beauty.

 

Tome Thursday: Bloody Black

 

Hello everyone!

 

Or, perhaps I should be saying, ahoy, maties!

 

LOL

 

Either way, whichever greeting you choose, tonight's book is an absolutely DELICIOUS feast of a novel.

 

And I say that as someone who was incredibly, beyond wonderfully lucky to be chosen for the BETA READ of this.

 

Not an ARC, the way you usually see me blabber on about on this blog, but the beta version, which is one step before even an ARC goes out.

 

Listen.

 

I don't really know how it happened. I mean, I do, but I also don't, if you know what I mean? I'm just a voracious reader from one of the smallest countries in the world, practically under the rock for some of the behemoths fighting over air space nowadays. And yet here I am.

 

Which means, you lot get to take this journey with me tonight, so grab your swords, put on your hats, and let's lift the Jolly Roger way up high with Bloody Black!

 

Tome Thursday: Magicom

 

Hello everyone!
 

Welcome to this week's bookish blog post.

 

And apologies for missing last week's. Unfortunately, RL conspired against me so I had to be responsible for a bit and skip some of the things I otherwise love dearly.

 

Don't you just hate when that happens?

 

Either way, I'm back tonight, and unless there's more unforeseen problems on the horizon, I'm hopeful I won't have to be skipping anything else any time soon!

 

Onwards.

 

Tonight's choice of book is another ARC I was very kindly sent by a lovely Goodreads author, which I totally wasn't expecting, by the way. I generally don't jump around waving ARCS AHOY THIS WAY! haha.

 

But I picked it up, and was very easily and quickly hooked. It's just that kind of a great book, you see. So why don't we take a brief look what I'm talking about with Magicom?

 

Tome Thursday: Chaos Beckons

 

Hello everyone!

 

Tonight, we're picking something really awesome for our book review of choice.

 

And I say this as someone who's been reading pretty much her entire life, and who generally says a book is awesome without much prompting.

 

But tonight's one REALLY is.

 

It's one of those things you pick up accidentally because you either like the sound of the title, you're intrigued by the blurb, or you're just super bored with whatever else you've been reading thus far and want to branch out into something new. Either way, you pick it up, think to yourself, wow, this thing is MASSIVE at over 600 pages, but then end up getting sucked in so badly you don't know what year it is when you finally emerge again.

 

If you're thinking that last is me ... you're right.

 

So without further ado, let's hop right into it, because we've got a lot of ground to cover between a weird ass religious cult, a magical fantasy world, and the potential of a deity coming to life.

 

Chaos Beckons.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

 

"... and they lived happily ever after."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to tonight's movie of choice, which if you've seen last week's you knew this was coming.

 

As if I could just let the insult that is the 2025 version slide without touching the original.

 

And even then, the ACTUAL original is a fairy tale written way back when!

 

But I digress.

 

Back in the days before WWII, Disney decided it was going to try and launch this whole animation shindig.

 

This was the tale they chose to do it with.

 

They were so successful that they've been regularly pumping out animated features about "their" princesses ever since!

 

So remember to stay away from perfect-looking, delicious apples, and let's have a look at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!

 

Tome Thursday: Beyond the Veil

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to tonight's book review of choice.

 

It's one that's been a while in the making, in the sense that the author took her time to ensure the book would be written well, consistently, and wrapped up in a neat bow to finish everything off.

 

We love authors like that!

 

Overall though, I just love interacting with THIS author in particular, as she's a total sweetheart. I was lucky enough to be sent an ARC directly from her, but I'd highly, HIGHLY recommend you look into purchasing these books to lend your support.

 

This is a very fun retelling of Sleeping Beauty, in which the "beauty" happens to be reversed, aka it's the prince rather than the girl, and the girl rescues him.

 

Then they go off on a quest together, discover her long-lost lineage, and then decide hey, maybe they'll take on that magical separating border between one realm and the next!

 

That's all (and more!) you get when you pick up the last book in the trilogy, Beyond the Veil.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Snow White

 

"Fearless, fair, brave, and true."

 

Hello everyone!

 

So sorry for the wait.

 

Unfortunately, while my country isn't as deep in hell as some other European ones (looking at you, poor, poor Spain ...), we're still experiencing a heatwave that's quite literally sweated the life out of me thus far.

 

Morning shifts combined with high temperatures meant that I mostly just vegged out in the afternoons and tried my hardest to not do anything, including sitting behind a computer to type.

 

This, of course, means I've fallen behind in this whole blogging business.

 

That's okay though! Because we're back.

 

And oh boy, do we have a doozy tonight.

 

Unless you're living under a big ass rock, you've heard all about the controversy surrounding tonight's movie of choice, and I can totally see where everyone's coming from. I really can.

 

Because let's face it, there have definitely been better adaptations of Snow White.

 

Tome Thursday: Claimed by the Undead

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to the beautiful beginning of a brand new series on this blog.

 

I say this quite confidently, as I'm reasonably sure that the couple whose story we're covering in this particular book WILL return for SEVERAL more books, not just one or two more, which makes me all giddy and excited!

 

C. L. Carhart is an author I've been following since very randomly picking up Gift of Fire over on Booksirens, and I have to say I haven't been disappointed yet.

 

She writes magnificently well, and as I'm currently slowly making my way through His Name Was Augustin series - with gusto and much enjoyment, taking my time - I can definitely say that each new book seems to get better than the last.

 

So without further ado, let's jump right in, shall we?

 

We're headed to the 19th century with a brilliant witch of light and the undead Black Priest who claims her as his consort, which unleashes a whole host of problems ... in Claimed by the Undead.

 

Talkie Tuesday: My Happy Marriage

 

"We should try to find our own shape of happiness."

 

Hello everyone! 

Welcome back.

 

Tonight, we're taking a look at the acclaimed second season of the series that won my heart over so fast, it's a miracle that no skidmarks were left behind!

 

As I said before in my previous posts, I'm not really an anime person.

 

But this?

 

This one is prime quality entertainment, with beautiful animation, heartfelt story-telling, and a main couple for the ages.

 

So make sure you've got your popcorn, sit back, relax, and let's dive right back into an alternate universe of Imperial Japan, of all places.

 

Then again, the best anime stories seem to happen around that time, and the same goes for My Happy Marriage.

 

Talkie Tuesday: My Happy Marriage

 

"We should try to find our own shape of happiness."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to tonight's blog post of choice, and I'm pretty sure none of you saw this coming.

 

I've never really been an anime girlie, and I don't really consider myself one at the moment either, HOWEVER, Netflix has suddenly grabbed onto me with some of their select choices that they suggested I watch, and I have to say ... there's something there.

 

Howl's Moving Castle was of course my first foray into this animated world as an adult (I think I watched something else by accident when I was much younger, and I don't clearly remember it), but I've since expanded a little.

 

And I may have ordered all the manga volumes for this particular title because ... well.

 

Listen, if there's one thing that will ALWAYS get me, it's a ridiculously good story. And this is a ridiculously good story.

 

We'll be dividing the topic into two posts, as the show consists of two seasons, so tonight is covering the first. Just get your fans and admire the kimonos, because we're diving into My Happy Marriage.

 

Tome Thursday: Queen of Shadows

 

Hello everyone!

 

What do you say when it's been nearly a decade since you sat down to review the preceding book to tonight's blog choice?

 

Equally, what do you say that could POSSIBLY even be said?

 

I mean, after all ... my last Throne of Glass book series post was back in 2017.

 

Then I went and fell off the wagon somehow.

 

I can remember most of my reasons why, but recently, a co-worker of mine really got into reading these fantasy novels, and she kept pestering me about A Court of Silver Flames, then moved along to the rest of the Throne of Glass books.

 

Because I stopped over halfway through and just never picked back up again. Who am I kidding either, I have yet to review any of the Crescent City series on here, too, despite the fact I HAVE read at least the first book.

 

But without further ado, let's just jump right in, shall we? Our characters have been eagerly waiting, and they're trying so hard to shine in Queen of Shadows.

 

Tome Thursday: Forbidden Gift

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back to the blog and all our bookish adventures.

 

Tonight's reading material of choice belongs to an author I found completely by accident while browsing BookSirens, and liked the initial premise of her series.

 

Turns out, she's written ANOTHER one (that I'm currently slowly chomping my way through) and is working on expanding her ongoing adventures in the mythical land of Teutonic witches.

 

Aka, there may or may not be people among us who can and do wield elemental magic, hopefully staying on the right path and not worshiping a demon lord in their spare time ...

 

I digress.

 

Tonight, we take a look at the second in her series, and just be aware that these aren't full-length books a la Outlander, they've got WAY fewer pages.

 

But they're page-turners just the same.

 

So let's hop right into Forbidden Gift.

 

Tome Thursday: Mystic Passage

 

Hello everyone!

 

Once again, welcome back to the land of Teutonica.

 

I swear I need to get better at this, because I'd read this one towards the tail end of LAST year, and yet here we are, nearing the end of February, but I'd never put the review up on my blog until now.

 

Sigh.

 

There's so much going on all the time though that it's almost impossible to really make a full schedule and stick to it, at least at the moment, because I keep getting ARCs that twist through it all and make me reschedule EVERYTHING.

 

But anyway, we're going back into the magical world C L Carhart invented tonight, and boy oh BOY am I excited to do it.

 

Because, and I kid you not, we finally get to meet our main character. Well, main MALE character in any event, which funnily enough does NOT happen in book one of this series.

 

So strap on your witchy hats and make sure your intentions are good, because I can assure you, even they might not be able to help. Not in Mystic Passage.

 

Tome Thursday: Onyx Storm

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welp. We back, baby.

 

I'm not entirely sure how long it's been since the last time I set foot onto the Continent (literary speaking, of course), but I do know it's been a WHILE.

 

And man oh MAN have things gone from bad, to worse!

 

Now that THAT's out of the way, let's dive right into the nitty gritty of it all, shall we?

 

Because these dragons aren't messing around.

 

Neither, it turns out, are their riders either, which means that we really should be prepared for the fourth book when it eventually releases.

 

For the time being, buckle up, bring all them alloy daggers that you own, make sure you tell the people you love that you love them, and above everything else: do NOT, I repeat, do NOT piss off the largest dragons on the Continent.

 

And no, you don't need an umbrella to brave this Onyx Storm.