Instagram story viewer> @micolreads> Posts

Micol | books and coffee |

@micolreads

1.1K

followers

1207

following

🏳️‍🌈Italian reader
🪻 Fantasy and romance reader

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Cover reveal day 👑

From authors Rebecca Mix and Andrea Hannah comes a new YA Fantasy book: I killed the king.

Let me know if you have it in your tbr!

"One of Us Is Lying meets Knives Out—with beasts, murder, and magic—in this first book in a thrilling locked-room whodunnit YA fantasy duology by Andrea Hannah and New York Times bestseller Rebecca Mix.

After a decade of war, the kingdoms of Avendell and Istellia have finally agreed to peace. As nobles and magic wielders from both countries arrive at remote Castle Avendell for a historic all-night masquerade to celebrate, King Costis summons an unlikely group to his chambers: the crown prince, his Istellian bride-to-be, his personal guard, a wild beast teamer, and the palace’s questionable new healer. But before Costis can reveal why he has gathered them, the castle goes dark.

When the lights come back, the king is dead—murdered with the princess’s knife, in a weak spot only his guard knew of, and with venom from one of the beast tamer’s monsters lacing the blade.

With no clear killer—and everyone a suspect—they make a risky pact: Tell no one until the treaty is signed. But when a winter storm seals everyone inside and someone aware of the king's untimely death begins to pick off guests one by one, the six suspects must work together to discover who killed the king . . . before one of them is next."

#coverreveal #rebeccamix #andreahannah #ikilledtheking by @micolreads

46

1

2 years ago

✨The crimson moth by Kristen Ciccarelli ARC REVIEW

Releasing February 20th in US as Heartless hunter and February 29th in UK as The crimson moth

❓Will you read this book? Or have you read it already?
🇮🇹Leggerete questo libro? O lo avete già letto?

4 ⭐

“Is this still the game? Or is this real?”

I started this book almost blindly, I only knew it was about a witch and a witch hunter. I’m grateful for that because I was able to discover every piece of it while reading and I feel like it was the best.

This book has a strong plot line and, while it may seem quite easy, it is a lot more complex than I was imagining. It’s easy to read it and it’s entertaining, but sometimes I felt like it was more of a new adult book instead of a ya. And I say this with the upmost respect: the intricacy of both the writing style and different subplots and how some scenes were written gave me new adult feelings.

🪻The Mr and Mrs Smith vibes of this book are on top and I was laughing a lot during a few scenes. The world building was pretty defined and I loved this, but there were a few elements that felt out of place. We know almost everything about what’s happened and what is currently happening and I didn’t feel like I was missing information.

💐The magic system is different from anything I’ve ever read, I loved how it depended on blood and spells, also leacving a silver scar behind (something used to identify the witches).

🌻The characters are what made me give this book 4 stars: I loved Rune, her struggles and her grey morality, her need to save more witches, but also learning more dreadful things about the old witches reign. Her being the Crimson Moth, a witch, was just perfect, it gave her more depth and made her more fascinating. On the other hand we have Gideon, the captain of the Blood Guard, eternal enemy of the witches. I feel like he was so blind and just didn’t want to see Rune as who she was. I feel like, while Rune has a very specific personality, Gideon was just a child of the context. He has a dark past, but it felt like it was an add on and I didn’t really empathize with his character. I hope to see more of him in the next book!

[⬇️⬇️⬇️] by @micolreads

106

14

3 years ago

98

29

3 years ago

Emily Wilde’s map of the otherlands ARC REVIEW

Releasing January 16th

4,25 ⭐

✨“I must confess - I am in awe of you. I believe I am also a little frightened.”✨

This second book is just as magical as the first one. While I was enthralled by the magic and world-building of the first book, I felt like this one was more focused on the main couple and the other characters. I love how this book was able to keep up with the previous one.

🪻I especially enjoyed reading about Emily's new adventure as it felt a lot more interesting and complex, while also having to keep and create new relationships (with family and colleagues). I also found this book a lot more interesting since the very first page, seeing as both Emily and Wendell were present, but I truly like how Fawcett is able to still give them both their spaces, while also creating cozy and beautiful scenes of them together. We get more information about the world building and the fairies and I was able to vividly see everuthing in my mind. While I was reading I kept getting curious about all the folklore and I loved how the author is able to give us information without making it boring.

🌻One of the things I found the most original is how the story is told: as it was all part of a diary with daily entries. The overall atmosphere made me curious and happy about the book and the series!

Fawcett was able to give us a sequel that was just as great as the first installment. This series is the epitome of cozy fantasy and I can't wait to read more!

🌸Thank you Netgalley and Orbit for the copy! taken in Austria by @micolreads

121

22

3 years ago

✨An education in malice by ST Gibson ARC REVIEW✨

Releasing February 15th 2024

4,5 ⭐

When I think about Gibson's style, only one word comes to mind: uniqueness. It's also difficult to put into words what I feel and what I felt reading both this book and A dowry of blood. They are so complex and yet so easily lovable. This book puts a twist to the old vampire stories and tells a modern and original tale of love and obsession, combined with an academic setting and a mystery to solve.

🪻This book started slow, I have to admit it, but once you get a bit into it you are completely enveloped. The plot was truly interesting and Gibson delivered perfect characters. It's not easy to create a world like this one, keeping all the details coherent and still making it work.

What I really love about Gibson's work is how she was able to write a short book and still being great at giving all the necessary space and time to the characters. Even though we only have two points of view, we get to know a lot about other characters, more or less important to the story.

🌻Carmilla and Laura spoke to me and even if they were so different, they got to understand each other.

Thank you ST Gibson and Netgalley for the e-arc!

❓Have you read anything by ST Gibson?
🇮🇹Avete letto qualcosa della Gibson? by @micolreads

85

19

3 years ago

✨Books to summon me ✨

I saw this trend around and I couldn't not do it!

Here's my list of quotes that can't get out of my mind and which I would get tattooed right this moment (beside the Throne of glass one, I already have Rattle the stars tattooed)!

🪻I feel like each and every quote has a way of speaking about my person and I can't wait to add more!

❓If you had to choose your favorite quote of the moment, what would it be?

🇮🇹 Se dovessi scegliere la tua frase preferita da un libro, quale sceglieresti?

🫐

[#throneofglass #sarahjmaas #onceuponabrokenheart #stephaniegarber #thepoppywar #rfkuang #divinerivals #rebeccaross #theinvisiblelifeofaddielarue #veschwab #adarkershadeofmagic #addictedseries #callowaysistersseries #kbritchie #zodiacacademy #bookaddict #bookstagram #bookish #fortheloveofreading #fantasyreads #romantasy #romancebooks #bookishlife] by @micolreads

80

23

3 years ago

One dark window by Rachel Gillig Review 🌻

❓Have you read this book?
🇮🇹Avete letto questo libro?

4,75 ⭐

✨I'm just the wind in the trees, the shadow, and the fright. The echo in the leaves...the nightmare in the night.✨

I have to start by saying that this book came to me at the perfect time. I was looking for a captivating and fast read and this book was the right one. I love Rachel Gillig’s writing style, I feel like this kind of spooky, mysterious and fast pacing book is something she excels at.

🍁The plot is complex and well defined, I couldn’t find anything that could’ve been done better/differently and I loved how the author was able to combine a great plot with amazing and well developed characters. Everything had its place and it all felt right at the right moment.

🀧 The magical system is one of the most original I’ve ever read, it’s based on cards (similar to tarot cards), each one of them giving a specific power to the one tapping on it. The use of them was explained as the book went on, I’m glad we didn’t have an info dump. It was interesting seeing them used by different characters and I loved how Gillig was able to create such a complex system without it being difficult to understand.

💌 The characters had all their role and personality. I loved reading of them all, even the “bad” ones. Our main character, Elspeth, was definetely flawed, I felt like I could relate to her a lot. The fact that she has to hide a big part of herself (the infection and The Nightmare) was interesting to read. I was afraid I would find her annoying and obnoxious, but I actually fell in love with her character. Enter, Ravyn, the Princes’s cousin and our own Captain of the army (Destriers). Initially, I found him a bit lacking, I felt his was living in the shadow of other characters, but as the book went on, he managed to get me interested in him. I have a type and he was exactly what I love reading in books.

[⬇️⬇️⬇️] by @micolreads

123

40

3 years ago

The bonds that tie by J. Bree

4,25

✨Recovery isn't about wiping the board clean. Recovery is learning how to function around all of the scars and open wounds inside of us.✨

🔶Important information about the series:
- Reverse harem (5 guys and 1 girl)
- Fantasy
- 6 books featuring the same characters
- Completed series
- Narrated in first person
- Multi pov
- Recommended for 18+ due to language and sexual situations

🪻I kept postponing posting a review of this series, not because I didn’t like it, but because putting into words what I feel is truly difficult. When I first started Broken bonds, I didn’t know what it was awaiting me, but I didn’t think I would end up obsessing over this series as much as I did.

🌻This series is the perfect example of a great combination of revers harem romance, action, amd fantasy. It starts almost easy, with our heroine, Oli, running from something (we will discover everything over the books) and being captured by her fated mates. In Bree’s world every person is either in an harem or is the center of it (like Oli). I found this take really interesting and seeing different type of harems was appalling.

💌 One of the things I usually dread the most in reverse harem books with a lot of male love interests is the lack of characters’ personalities and development, so color me surprised and happy when I started this series. Every single character has its own power (and they are all so interesting to read about) and their own characterization. Never once have I felt like two characters were the one and the same. They are all flawed, with their strenghts and weaknesses, their traumas and pasts.

📰 I found myself relating to a lot of characters (of course not all of them, because of personalities and past experiences), but I loved how it became easy fot me to truly understand some of their choices. It’s not always easy to follow so many characters, but Bree made it easy. Even with all the secondary characters, which I loved a lot, the plot never lacked because of it. It was never difficult following all the twists and information given, but more like an experience.

[⬇️⬇️⬇️] by @micolreads

89

32

3 years ago

✨“If you can’t worry about losing something you find precious, it probably isn’t all that valuable to you in the first place.”✨

I never really expressed how much I love Mariana Zapata’s books and this is the time. Whenever I’m looking for a new romance book, with a slowburn done masterfully, she is the author I read. I can always relate to the characters and I love how she is always able to give them all different developments and personalities.

I still need to read Hands down, but I’m sure I’ll love it just as much as the others (Watching you @gio.talks.about.books).

🌻In the picture is one of my favorite books of hers, When Gracie met the Grump, the first fantasy/paranormal book I read from her, which I loved and I’m currently obsessed with.

💜If you are looking to start reading this author, I personally suggest reading From Lukov with love first. It has slowburn, amazing characters and they are Ice skaters!! If you are still not sure, you can always choose chronological publication order, which is always a good choice!

What you’ll find in this book:
🍁 Forced proximity
🍁 Slowburn (the one that literally lasts for at least 80% of the book)
🍁 Found family
🍁 Grumpy hero x sunshine heroine
🍁 Superheroes with superpowers
enemies to friends to lovers
🍁 Traumas of the heroine (no sa)--> check trigger warnings before reading

❓Have you read anything from Mariana Zapata? Do you have a favorite? by @micolreads

75

33

3 years ago

A study in drowning by Ava Reid

3,5 ⭐

Reid did a masterful job at creating a gothic, mysterious and haunting setting for this book. This book has a lot of interesting takes on modern topics, the author is provocative in writing about those and it makes the reader question everything.

🍁The book follows Effy, an Architecture student, who is sent to a remote village where she has to create a new architecture plan for an old house. Everything should go smooth, but the presence of another student, Preston, makes it all the more difficult. 🍁

The premise of the books was what really convinced me to give it a go. The gothic and mystery vibes of this book were just on point. I’m still not sure about the world building, I feel like it was too left for wonder instead of being more specific. Even the concept of the house that is slowly being “eaten” by the sea was spectacular, but I wish the author spent more time describing this element in the book.

The setting is what I truly appreciated in the book, even though there was not a lot of information, I loved how the author was able to create the perfect atmosphere, with spooky elements, weird and dark characters, the whole mystery behind the published books Effy loves so much. I especially loved how the house was almost only described through the main characters action. I could spend days talking about the whole atmosphere and the concept of the house upon a cliff, because I feel like it made the whole book a lot more interesting.

👎I couldn’t really relate with Effy, I found her a bit annoying, even though I think Reid did an amazing job at depicting her trauma. I found her take on the difficulties of being a woman in a sexist institution really interesting, she gave us readers a new perspective and I loved that. The importance that she gives to what Effy went through with her professor, who should have been a person who guided her and not one to take advantage, was done masterfully. The fact that a person’s voice has more importance than another’s and that the voice can be taken away from you with no consequences was both good and difficult to see represented.

⬇️Continues in the comments⬇️ by @micolreads

62

33

3 years ago

Autumn book tag 🌰🎃

It’s that time of the year again and I couldn’t be happier!

🍂1. As autumn arrives, so do the cold and dark nights. Name a book that will warm up your heart:
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

🍁2. There's nothing like warming by the fire on a cold night. Name a book with fire in the title or on the cover:
A fire in the flesh by Jennifer Armentrout

🍂3. Autumn means it's time to get the cozy jumpers out. Name a book with a beautiful cover:
The atlas six by Olivie Blake

🍁4. Autumn for many means back to school season. Name a book that is partially or fully set in some type of school:
Gothikana by RuNyx

🍂5. Autumn means it's nearly Halloween! Do you read horror books? If so, what's your favorite?
It by Stephen King

🍁6. If you had to assign a season to your books, name one that is, without a doubt, autumn:
Ninth house by Leigh Bardugo

🍂7. The leaves will begin to brown, fall, and bare the branches. Name a book that has significant change of plot/plot twists:
Red queen by Victoria Aveyard

🍁8. Autumn is great time to go for a stroll in the park with some friends. Which fictional friend group would you like to go on a stroll with?
The Like us series characters!

🍂9. Autumn is well known for its browns and oranges. What's your favorite book in an autumnal color?
Uk edition of Binding 13

🍁10. Create an autumnal book stack. In the picture: Binding 13, Muse of nightmares, She who became the sun and Crescent city 1

❓What are you currently reading? by @micolreads

68

27

3 years ago

✨We're all monsters in the end. At least mine lives in the light✨

🪻Assistant to the villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

3,75⭐

A book for booktok written by booktok. This is the premise of this book and I have to say it’s quite right: everything a lot of people (me included) love was in this book, from cliches to plot twists, this book was done masterfully.

🪻In which a girl decides to accept a job as the Villain’s assistant. What could go wrong?🪻

Evie Sage, our main character was funny and clumsy, easy to love and overall enjoyable. She is literally entering her villain era, helped by none other than our resident villain, The Villain, aka Trystan. I think it’s safe to say that he was a good example of morally grey character: he wants his revenge, but he is also compassionate and understands needs and difficulties. The “I hate everyone but her” trope was perfectly fit for them.

The first half of the book was definetely more comedy and lighthearted, with a lot of banter and new characters (a frog prince with a crown for example), but also with some important information about the world builing. The second half was full of twists and mystery, which I think really helped the book take a step forward.

🍁The world building lacked a bit, in my opinion. There were bits and pieces here and there, but I hope we’ll get more in the next installments. It felt like I couldn’t really grasp the context in which the characters live, but at the same time, I have to say it didn’t particularly made the read difficult.

❄️The plot was quite solid, I was afraid I was going to read a comedy based on banter, but I was given so much more. The characters all have a purpose, the mysteries were truly interesting and the plot twists were put in the perfect places.

Ps: there's a big cliffhanger!

👎What I didn’t like? I would say it was more of a feeling around this book: it felt like it lacked a bit of development from the characters, and it took me a while to enjoy the writing style.

👍If you are looking for a fantasy comedy, this book is for you. It was funny and easy to read!

-The villain gets the girl
-Grumpy x Sunshine
-Boss x Assistant
-Magical potions by @micolreads

68

27

3 years ago