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Maria

@mariasbookcorner

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✨Book Dragon
📚Book Reviews
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🍁Fall Vibes🍁

QOTD: What fall vibes do you enjoy in books?

Here's another bookstack of fall vibes from my second shelf! I recommend reading these books in the fall to increase fall joy. These books have creepy forests, academia settings, cottage witches, local legends, ghosts, necromancy, cute romances, epic settings, and more! Let me know if you've enjoyed any of these books or if any are on your tbr!

AOTD: I really enjoy creepy forests and paranormal elements for fall vibes!

#bookstack #fallvibes #fallbooks #bookrecommendations #fantasybooks by @mariasbookcorner

🎃October Wrapup🎃

QOTD: What was your favorite thing about October?

October is always one of my favorite months and I'm always sad to see it go. I had family come visit, played lots of games, celebrated friends' birthdays, had a slumber party, book club events, boo box exchange, lots of crafting, road trips, seeing the leaves change, some hiking, visited lots of bookstores, and of course celebrated Halloween! With all that, I'm surprised I got in so much reading. A lot of reads this month we're highly anticipated releases and I enjoyed so many good ones. My favorites were Empire, A Snake Among Swans, This Shattered Tempest, Victorious,and The Wretched Divine. Will I complete my reading challenges this year - ahh only time will tell.

Total read: 30
Own: 8
Borrowed: 28
ARCs: 6
26 in 26 Challenge: 1 (21/26)
Unhauling: 3

AOTD: I spent a lot of time with family and friends this month.

#octoberwrapup #booksiread #bookstack #reader #fantasybooks by @mariasbookcorner

🎃Halloween🎃

QOTD: Do you dress up for Halloween? Tell me what you're going to be or your kids/pets!

I had so much fun bringing one of my favorite film characters to life. She may not be from a book, but she is very much a bookish character and loves books! The one and only Evelyn (Carnahan) O'Connell from The Mummy. I absolutely adore Evie and this is her librarian era. Maybe I'll attempt her adventurer era next. I'm trying to convince the husband to be Rick, but I already have friends willing to play the part. 😂 If you celebrate Halloween and go out, I hope you have a safe and fun weekend!

AOTD: Any excuse to dress up!

#halloween #costume #cosplay #themummy #evelyn Rick and Evie librarian book of the dead by @mariasbookcorner

💫This Shattered Tempest💫

QOTD: What fandom would you like fanfic of?

This Shattered Tempest by Thea Guanzon is the last book in her trilogy The Hurricane Wars. Alaric and Talasyn just handled the Moonless Dark and are more than ready to leave battle behind them. But their nations are not ready for peace and the political marriage is thrown into choosing sides once again. Will they face each other on opposite sides of the battlefield or will they finally bring this war to an end?

Look, I'm a sucker for this series. Could you blame it on me being a big fan Reylo? Maybe. The tension!! The book is thick with multiple layers of tension. Political tension. Marriage tension. Sensualllll tension. 😂 If you were waiting on this slowburn to combust, you won't be disappointed with this book. I really enjoyed how the series ended. It's just a fun time. Talasyn has always been back and forth with choosing what her lineage would want and what her heart wants. It takes her a bit to get there, but when she finally does, it's good. Alaric!! Sweet baby Kylo, I mean Alaric! The dark side has no power over his feelings for Talasyn. If you want more Reylo in a different universe including dragons!!! then pick this series up.

Release date: October 6th

Thank you to @netgalley @avonbooks and @harpervoyagerus for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

AOTD: I'm always down for The Lord of the Rings fanfic. 😂

🏷️ #netgalley #thisshatteredtempest #thehurricanewars #reylo #fantasy series trilogy conclusion by @mariasbookcorner

🎻Book Challenge🎻

QOTD: Do you enjoy books with music?

Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy is a cozy fantasy featuring queer romance. Leo is a master of small magics aka cutesy things like summoning butterflies by singing. Grimm is his complete opposite and Leo's longtime nemesis because he is insufferable with how good at magic he is. They get mixed up with forbidden magic and end up cursed. They chase down a powerful sorcerer to undo this curse and go on a dangerous journey where they end up....not hating each other.

This book sounded right up my alley - cozy, adventure, sorcery, and romance. I don't know why it didn't work for me. I really enjoyed the music component mixed with magic and that the magic system involved using a scriver and a caster. It has some Ella Enchanted feels to it, but it was too slow for me. I didn't enjoy the main characters and felt no chemistry between them. Honestly, I felt like they didn't like themselves either. There were some intriguing cute side characters, but I wanted more from them. This is the first in a trilogy so it could get better for me, I'll have to wait and see. This book has many great reviews though so it worked for others!

26 in 26 Challenge: 17/26
Unhauling? Yes, unfortunately. It's so pretty though.

AOTD: Yes! One of my favorite things is when authors include playlists in their books.

🏷️ #bookreview #readingchallenge #sorceryandsmallmagics #specialedition #fantasy 26in26 series by @mariasbookcorner

🏃🏽10 Before the End🏃🏽

QOTD: What are you trying to read before the end of the year?

I'm laughing at myself because these are high goals indeed especially when I mostly read audiobooks on Libby right now. But it's good to set goals. Right? RIGHT?! It would be great to get through all of these books before the end of the year, but I've been distracted by reading all my highly anticipated books that have been released recently. They're like sparkly items and I get distracted by sparkly things. Let me know if I should prioritize any of these!

AOTD: Hoping to get through some of my ARCs and physical tbr!

#10beforetheend #arcs #physicaltbr #readinggoals #readinglist by @mariasbookcorner

📚My Weekend TBR📚

QOTD: What are your plans this weekend?

I have a fully stacked weekend and am hoping to make it through these books on my Libby. Or at least a good chunk of them. They should all be just right for the season so I'll find out! I'm constantly working through my Libby holds and they somehow like to come in all at once and then I'm back to filling up my holds list. It's a cycle but I love it.

AOTD: Reading in between everything like work, book club, exploring a new town, hanging with friends, and fixing a toilet. 🤪

#weekendplans #tbr #libby #audiobooks #fantasy by @mariasbookcorner

💍Once, Again, Always💍

QOTD: Do you do anything to record memories?

Once, Again, Always by Amanda Gayle is a contemporary romance sweeter than candy. Molly Graham wakes up in a hospital and has lost six years of memories. Aster Bishop is her husband and he is determined to help her remember the last few years. Just one tiny problem. She remembers him as her school rival that bullied her so she doesn't trust him.

The story includes flashbacks so you visualize how their past relationship was and how different their present is. I enjoyed the characters and their personal battles. Molly was struggling to remember and make sense of everything and Aster was yearning for his wife and having to relive trauma all over again for her. There are a lot of good friendships in the story as well helping both characters through these events. The story was sweet and romantic, but nothing new. I didn't realize that this was actually fanfic until after I read it. If you've loved the movie The Vow, you'll love this story.

Release date: October 6th

Thank you to @netgalley @avonbooks and @harpervoyagerus for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

AOTD: I love taking photos. I take photos of everything and my husband will poke fun at me for it but I always tell him that I want to remember it.

🏷️ #netgalley #onceagainalways #romance #memoryloss #itsalovestory by @mariasbookcorner

📚Library Stack📚

QOTD: What's the last book you borrowed from the library?

I went to the library last week and picked up this stack that caught my eye. The first because I thought it looked cute, the second because I want to read more classic fantasy and I like McKillip, and the third because I literally have books 2 and 3 from this trilogy on my shelf. 😂 Even though I read mostly audiobooks right now, I still like to borrow physical copies to try to slow down and read. Also every borrow matters from the library! Even if you can't purchase books, borrowing them also supports authors.

AOTD: The pictures show my last physical borrows!

#library #supportlibraries #borrow #borrowbooks #libraryhaul by @mariasbookcorner

✨Crafty✨

QOTD: What funny quotes would you like displayed?

I can share this project now that it's been gifted. These beaded embroidery projects are so time consuming, but they're so fun and cute and sparkly! Perfect for those who enjoy trinkets and shelf decorations. I definitely get through a chunk of audiobook time while working on them. My hands need to keep busy so doing crafts helps me with reducing screen time. I think I may start making bookish ones. Please give me some ideas!

AOTD: I've been thinking of bookish ones recently!

#crafty #beadedembroidery #audiobooks #booksandcrafts #bookstack by @mariasbookcorner

⚖️Book Challenge⚖️

QOTD: Do you enjoy mysteries?

This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara was book number 16 in 26 of my personal challenge. I received this in a book box and it sounded right up my alley and I was excited for it. I kept putting it off, but I finally read it and decided it was a miss for me. The beginning of the story pulled me in where a woman is brutally beaten and left for dead. You guessed it, she's not dead. Sarai comes back with a vengeance to deal justice and I loved that for her. She works with Kadra to find her would be murderer and he deals justice in a unique way.

The main characters Sarai and Kadra were interesting enough in their own right, but I didn't like them together. The book is marketed mostly as a romantasy, but I wasn't a fan of the romance and felt like there was no chemistry there. The fantasy bits were flimsy to me with a confusing and barely there magic system. I think I felt this was more aligned as a murder mystery which isn't my favorite anyways. The premise had so much promise with a lot of my favorite things. I think I'm in the minority though because there are a lot of reviews raving about this story.

26 in 26 Challenge: 16/26
Unhauling? Yes, unfortunately. It's so pretty though.

AOTD: I generally do not as a genre.

🏷️ #bookreview #readingchallenge #thismonsterofmine #specialedition #romantasy 26in26 sff series by @mariasbookcorner

🪽The Wretched Divine🪽

QOTD: Where do you land on the moral scale?

The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace is her debut adult novel, first in a new fantasy series, and features a tale as old as time: good versus evil. We are still in our lady knight phase. Aurelie is our main character and a lady knight. The world is suffering from the battle of angels and demons and Aurelie has been training her whole life to take down the bad guys. She pursues a soulbond with an angel so she can manifest the powers to do her job better. This angel becomes Yuriel! Sweet baby angel. And then! People she loves starts turning into demons and she needs help. She turns to bonding with a demon. Enter Severin - the dark and broody, who hurt you, type of alpha - who is a demon feared by many.

I enjoyed all these characters on opposing forces and their bantering. There is a lot of fighting, a lot of political intrigue, and a lot of morality insight happening. I really enjoyed this one and it had a major cliff hanger that makes me need the sequel now. My favorite part of this story was how the author flipped the scales on the imagery of goodness. What has been deemed good for centuries because of political power doesn't mean the decisions made are for the good... I haven't been this wrapped up in an angels and demons story since the Fallen series. 😂

Release date: September 22nd

Thank you to @netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

AOTD: I tend to see myself as morally grey. Like my favorite characters. 😂

🏷️ #netgalley #thewretcheddivine #fantasy #angelsanddemons #adalyngrace by @mariasbookcorner