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Anuja Varghese 🇨🇦🏳️‍🌈🍉

@anuja_v

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Writer - A KISS OF CRIMSON ASH and CHRYSALIS

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This week’s book mail + order from @brightsidebooksandwine

#book #bookish #bookstagram #tbr #physicalmedia

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QOTD: Do you enjoy books that explore fairytales/folklore or mythology? Please do let me know some of your faves?

A Kiss of Crimson Ash by Anuja Varghese✨Review✨AD-PR

A sweeping, epic Fantasy, set in a medieval, India-inspired world that’s perfect for fans of Samantha Shannon and Tasha Suri. I all but devoured this!

The storytelling was rich and intricately complex, with a magic system that blends elemental magic with the divine (which personally made the world-building feel even more vibrant, diverse and cinematic.)

The multi-POV format also allowed us to navigate different locations, cultures and class structures with an incredible amount of depth that had me fully invested.

From princes (Garjan) and thieves (Roland), to courtesans (Bhediya) and queens (Taara); Anuja Varghese cleverly injects empathy, nuance and heart into each of her characters that made liking them oh so easy.

I loved the strong sense of friendship/bonding that connects them all too, which made the transition between POVs feel really seamless. Though personally, I found Bhediya and Taara the most fascinating to explore.

Connected through Garjan, (who Bhediya yearns for and Taara is married off to) the pairs’ intertwined arcs see them at the heart of a plot (by a power hungry king) to destroy everything they hold dear. Kickstarting a journey of self discovery and empowerment that sees them both chart a course to take down the corrupt ruler, protect the people they care for and explore their desires in ways they’ve never dared to before. I was utterly hooked!

Overall, a deliciously engaging (and spicy) series starter bursting with Indian culture, mythology and lore that has me already eager for the next instalment!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

Also thanks to Nazia & Orbit UK for the finished copy.

AOTD: I do! And this has definitely become a new fave of mine😍❤️🔥

#akissofcrimsonash #anujavarghese #bookrecs #bookreviews #totalbooknerd

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A king, a queen, a thief, and elf and two sex workers walk into a bar... Except the bar is a fight against world-destroying evil, and the call is coming from inside the castle. A Kiss Of Crimson Ash by @anuja_v is an immersive, sexy, fantasy experience, and I was very glad to learn at WOTS that she is beholden to publishing the next 2 books in the trilogy within a year each, for I hate to wait.

#CanLit #QueerLit #romantasy

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Life lately 💕✨

I “normally” post once a month updates to the grid but I’m so behind! (I say behind like I’m being graded). But this mishmash of moments seems acceptable to do.

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Join us as welcome Vikki VanSickle, in conversation with Anuja Varghese, discussing her new novel The Mystic and the Missing Girl.

Small town secrets, a reluctant psychic, and the cold case that could expose them all. The Mystic and the Missing Girl is the perfect October read!

📅 Thursday, October 22 - 6:30 PM
📍 Epic Books, 226 Locke St S.

This is a free event, all are welcome. Link to RSVP with Epic Books.

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A fantasy kingdom that mirrors the news. A journalist naming the failure in real time. A novelist whose own fictional system taught her something about making real change.

Three Season 2 guests on writing as resistance, critique and finding what’s true.

Full conversations with Anuja Varghese (@anuja_v), Morgan Campbell (@morganpcampbell), and Jael Richardson (@jaelrichardson) — on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

#CanLit #BookTok #AuthorLife #WritingCommunity #Bookstagram

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Book Review 📖

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬
By Anuja Varghese

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

This collection may be small but they turn into something beautiful.

A collection of short stories featuring racialized women, Chrysalis combines slice-of-life with magic and surrealism, and presents stories that blend reality and the strange. I love that the characters were never picture perfect. They're messy and they're figuring things out, and we follow them along as the stories explore the complexities with sexuality, relationships, cultural expectations and community. I love Varghese's alluring prose and I really appreciate how easy it was to get up to speed with the setting of each short story, which I think speaks to the author's craft.

There's a few stories that particularly stood out to me. For example, "In the Bone Fields" was a chilling story about two twin sisters finding a haunted room in their farmhouse and it kept me on my toes. "Cherry Blossom Fever" was a brilliant story about four people hiding their sexuality and being in a messy love rectangle. Yet, I think out of all the stories, "Chitra" is my favourite as it is a fun and modern retelling of Cinderella, and it kept me continuously wondering how the author was going to adapt the material.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Chrysalis, as it's a unique collection of beautiful short stories that blurs reality while exploring various issues of racialized women.

𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴?

#bookreview #shortstories #fiction #canlit #bookflatlay

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A beautiful evening @typebooksjunction in celebration of @mbelyssa and the Toronto launch of A HUNGRY FIRE.
So much more fun with @anuja_v and @selenamercuriwriter sharing readings and bookish insights.
So grateful to @joshcockerill for always supporting writers and this community.
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@cormorantbooks @penguinrandomca

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Angels, pub week has been a whirlwind and a dream 🌸
I am floored by the response to Depression Cooking! Thank you to everyone for your support & for believing in me and this little project.

Yes, you can buy Depression Cooking wherever you buy books, but please visit your favourite independent bookstore 📚

📕Tomorrow, Saturday September 26, catch me at Word on the Street’s 37th Annual Festival @torontowots
Food and Identity Panel 2:30-3:15pm moderated by @jessjanz with @khalil_akhtar @dr.alexketchum @megelias 🔗 in bio.

📕 Listen to a special Depression Cooking episode on @doreennicoll ‘s Small Change Podcast 🔗 in bio.

📕 Read @kierany8s ‘s article on @itsnicethat on how Creativity can Democratize Foodie Culture 🔗 in bio.

📕 Catch me in Montreal Oct 17, Ottawa Oct 18 & Guelph Oct 29 💃🏽

Slides 1 & 2📸 @katietookthat
Slides 3 & 4 📸 me & Jeffrey

Sorry I couldn’t tag everyone!
Image descriptions in alt text. Sonali, a south asian woman is seated in a pink sari, magenta choli, and pink tinted glasses. She is seated, and talking through a smile while gesturing with her hands.

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What a season it’s been!

A few things that stuck with me: Danielle L. Jensen has her own hashtag blocked — not because she stopped caring, but because she cared too much. Victoria S. Walsh getting asked, every single time she mentions her plus size heroine's body, why she's even talking about it. And Jael Richardson building a fictional system for Gutter Child that was easy to construct and nearly impossible to tear down — then realizing, as a writer, how closely that mirrored real life.

Season 2 is all wrapped up — swipe through to see who's who, then go find your favourite.

✨ Danielle L. Jensen (danielleljensen) — Defy the Dusk
✨ Morgan Campbell (@morganpcampbell) — My Fighting Family
✨ Jael Richardson (@jaelrichardson) — Gutter Child
✨ Jen Sookfong Lee (@jensookfonglee) — The Hunger We Passed Down
✨ Anuja Varghese (@anuja_v) — A Kiss of Crimson Ash
✨ Alli Temple (@allisontemplebooks) — Uncharted
✨ Julie M. Green (@juliem.green) — Motherness
✨ Tamara Jong (@bokchoygurl) — Worldly Girls
✨ Victoria S. Walsh (@victoriashaz) — The Iron Hex

All the full conversations are up now — on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you prefer to read, you can find them on our Substack.

See you in 2027 for Season 3!

>> Who would you love to hear on The Book Hook??

#CanLit #WritingCommunity #Bookstagram #AuthorLife #Memoir

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Come with me to the Culture Days event at @burlonlibrary featuring @anuja_v 💜📚

The talk was great and I loved learning some behind the scenes elements from A Kiss of Crimson Ash! This made me even more excited for book 2. A love letter to D&D, queer folk, and Bollywood, you should pick this book up today!

#bookstagram #bookevents #bookishcanadians #bookworm #bookrecommendations

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Monday September 28
7:00pm
@typebooksjunction
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Don’t sit down just yet.
The fall festival of books books books isn’t even close to ending.
Please add Monday to your calendar and join the conversation with @selenamercuriwriter @anuja_v as we celebrate the launch of @mbelyssa debut novel.
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@ontarioliteraryevents

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