Instagram story viewer> @vanessabookedup> Posts

📚Vanessa Booked Up 🎧

@vanessabookedup

23.6K

followers

3730

following

📖 Celebrating my fave reads & audiobooks🎧
📍CLT, NC 🇺🇸 | 🚫 AI Zone
🖤 Dark Romance • Mafia Romance • MM Romance • Fantasy🐉
📕 Bookish, Audio, TV Recs 📺

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

✨𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧) ✨

Well friends, it’s finally happening. I shied away from this series for long enough and I’m not really sure why. Could be the length… could be the extreme levels of hype surrounding it, also could be my own snap judgements that I made about it because of the hype… something I’m trying to leave in 2024 because most of the time, when I do this, I end up finding out I was mostly or entirely wrong in my assumptions.

“𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛,” 𝚁𝚑𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚛, “𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝; 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛.”

I’m halfway through A Court of Mist and Fury and here are a few of my surprise takeaways already:

🔮 I don’t know what she does, but the way Sarah J. Maas writes her world building actually makes me like it. These courts all sound so magical and enchanting. I’m here for it.
🔮 Did not realize this was a FULL ON love triangle. But it is very well done and delicately executed. Not rushed or forced. (Though, I am DYING!)
🔮 High fantasy but easy to follow, at least so far. So NOT like my Onyx Storm read where I had to take a million notes and highlights and pause to do all this side research just to get through the story. This series (again, so far) is super digestible for a rookie fantasy reader like moi.
🔮 Yes on the spice. I don’t know where I got this in my head but I had this assumption that these books aren’t spicy. Spoiler alert…they are! 😁

I am doing a read/listen combo like an almost always do and invested in the dramatized audio and OMG, highly recommend. Such an experience and all the narrators are flawless.

And Thank you to @stellacandleco for this gorgeous Night Court candle. I’m obsessed with it and it smells amazing! 🤗

❓#QOTD: Have you read this series? If so, what did you love or not love about it and what were some of the things you were surprised to find? If you haven’t read it, what’s a series you want to read but have shied away from for whatever reason?

Happy Tuesday! 🤓📚📚

🏷️ #acotar #acomaf #amreading #sarahjmaas #romantasy #bookishaesthetic #bookedup #bookstagrammer #fantasyromance taken in North Carolina by @vanessabookedup

2k

94

2 years ago

🖤🐉⚔️ 𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖆𝖞 𝕱𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖘𝖞 𝕱𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖑𝖆𝖞 ⚔️🐉🖤

Happy Friday all! And thank Christ, right?!

A little #fridayflatlay fun for y’all — fantasy edition. I’m embarrassed to admit that the only book I’ve read from these is Iron & Embers which I freaking LOVED!! A Forbidden Alchemy and On Wings of Blood are HIGH on my TBR.

Have you read any of these? If so, tell me which ones should prioritize?

❓#QOTD: What are your weekend plans? My baby came home from college to surprise us tonight for the weekend so I am over the freaking moon excited! 🤗

🏷️ #fridayflatlay #bookobssesed #fantasyreads #fridaymood #bookedup #bookstagrammer #bibliophilie #bookishaesthetic taken in Charlotte, North Carolina by @vanessabookedup

1k

76

a year ago

♊️🐺ℤ𝕠𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕔 𝔸𝕔𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕪 - 𝕊𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨🧛🔮

My Rating: Solid 4 star series with some 5 star moments but you will have to WORK for them!

📣Spoilers ahead of who the couples are – no plot spoilers, but proceed at your own risk.📣

✔️Total of 6,626 pages
🎧207.5 combined hours on audio

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆,” 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅. “𝑳𝒆𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒏.”

First thing’s first, my absolute favorite couple, by far, were Lance and Darcy. Lance Orion is now one of my favorite MMC’s ever written. No notes! Even when I hated him, I loved him. I loved their entire love story, how they got together. The professor/ student vibes. The forbidden love. How sweet their love story was in the beginning. It was chef’s kiss perfection. 🤌🏼

They were closely followed by Seth and Caleb. Where I despised Seth at the beginning of the series, my heart melted for him by the end.

My third fave was Tory and Darius and they are probably tied with Geraldine and Max who were freaking hilarious and adorable. Tory and Darius took too freaking long and I honestly kinda lost interest. Don’t get me wrong, she had every right to hold out on him… I don’t know that I would’ve forgiven him for all the crap he put her through in the beginning.

I hated the bully trope in the first three books. I am not a fan of that trope whatsoever. And this is not bully-lite. These guys do some pretty terrible things to our heroines. I do not forgive easily, if at all. If you are not a fan of the trope either, know that it does go away after the first three books.

Books 4 – 7 were the best of the series for me. When it shifts to more found family and all of them against a greater evil. At that point, I could TOTALLY see the appeal of this series. It really has something for everyone. It’s got M/F, M/M, MMF… you’ve got vampires, where wolves, fae, Pegasus, shadow monsters.

Review continued in the comments. ⬇️

🏷️ #zodiacacademy #zodiacacademyseries #fantasyreads #darkfantasyromance #bookstacks taken in Solaria by @vanessabookedup

461

19

6 months ago

🍂🍁🧡 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗬’𝗮𝗹𝗹 🧡🍁🍂

Fall’s officially here and will all the fall vibe books please stand up?! 🤗

✨💭 What’s at the very top of your fall TBR pile?

For me, Vesselles by Cortney Winn and The Endless Fall by Emerson Hoyt are definitely at the top of the list. I’ve heard such amazing things about both and they bring all the fall vibes.

🏷️ #fallvibes #bookishstack #fallbookstagram #bookishaesthetic #itsfallyall taken in Charlotte, North Carolina by @vanessabookedup

3

74

a month ago

✨💭Who’s your “don’t even tell me what it’s about—I’m reading it” author? 👀📚

Helen Scheuerer secured herself as one of mine last year with her Legends of Thezmarr series, which I promptly followed up with The Ashes of Thezmarr series. Both were PHENOMENAL!

I love the worlds she creates and her characters. Especially her heroes—who are unapologetically masculine, swoony men who still somehow end up completely undone by the women they love. 🤤🥹

𝗞𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲 is the first book in her new Bookbinder’s Bargain duet, and it is live today!

A huge THANK YOU to the team at @atriabooks for this amazing hardcover copy with some drool worthy sprayed edges. 🥰😍😍

🏷️ #bookstagram #romantasy #fantasyromance #bookrecommendations #atriainfluencer taken in North Carolina by @vanessabookedup

3

42

a month ago

📚📚📖𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚏𝚒𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢📖📚📚

How are you doing on your physical book space capacity to amount of books you own ratio?

I reeaaally don’t want to admit it…but I’m very close to being out of room. Ok, well I’m very close to going from. Oh what a cool book hobby you have to okay, when did you become a book hoarder and why are books about to swallow this house up? 🤣

I guess I need to choose my path. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤔

I do have my hubby 60% talked into building me some shelves. But that’s only going to give me a a few more shelves at the top. I fear it will not be enough. 🙈

I did have some fun lighting a few candles the other night and trying to take a few fall vibe pics of my shelves for y’all the other night. So here they are!

Hope everyone enjoys a wonderful and relaxing Sunday funday! 😘

#shelfiesunday #shelfies #bookstagram #bookishaesthetic #bookwormforlife taken in Booksta by @vanessabookedup

3

32

a month ago

💖 Here are 15 creators who always have phenomenal and authentic book recommendations, stunning bookish aesthetic, and who are just some amazing human beings whose content I look forward to!

If you’re not following them already, make sure you change that! 🤗🥰

Who are some of your top go-to accounts? Make sure to tag them in the comments! ⬇️

🏷️ #bookstagrammer #bookishfriends #bookishcommunity #bookstafriends #readersunite taken in North Carolina by @vanessabookedup

3

53

a month ago

💬 Tell me about your weekend plans in one word.

Mine would be family. It’s my mom’s birthday tomorrow, and my oldest daughter is coming home from college for the weekend. 🤗

And hopefully relaxation because it’s been a friggin’ week! 😓

Aaaand, happy release week to this gorgeous gem, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗿’𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗺𝘆 by @jasminemasbooks

To say I’m intrigued is an understatement!

💚 True enemies-to-lovers
💚 Sarcastic banter
💚 Female rage
💚 Touch her and ☠️ energy
💚 Spicy, slow burn with ALL the tension
💚 He falls first 🤗
💚 SHE’S a knight
💚 Twisty

⚔️ Zora Ravenal didn’t join the Crimson Army to become a hero. She joined because she wants to destroy the empire. A skilled hunter hardened by loss, she fights her way into becoming a Knight Mage, one of the Commonwealth’s deadliest defenses against the Empire’s storm magic.

🥀 Except now she’s caught in a war she can’t walk away from, carrying dangerous secrets and forced into close quarters with the one man she should never be alone with... He’s a Royal Mage with a body count, a temper, and a very unsettling obsession with her.

And now they’re partners. Sort of.

🔮 They’re forced to train together, trust each other with their lives, and somehow resist killing each other in the process. But the longer they stay in each other’s orbit, the harder it becomes to tell who is actually hunting whom.

And can we talk about my obsession with this deluxe edition?! The sprayed edges, a foil-stamped case, and full-color character art endpapers? Um, yes, please!! 🤗🫠

A huge thank you to @htpbooks for gifting me this stunning copy of The Emperor’s Enemy. 🥰

If you’re a fan of the enemies to lovers trope, recommend me a favorite!

A recent standout favorite for me was definitely The Poison a daughter by Sheila Masterson. But I’m always looking for more! ⬇️

#theemperorsenemy #JasmineMas #romantasy #enemiestolovers #newreleasebooks taken in Booksta by @vanessabookedup

3

23

a month ago

⛈️💙📘𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠📘💙⛈️

Did I just make up “Thursday Thunder” stack because “thunder” was the only blueish gray noun I could think of?

Yes. 😁🤣

Did I take this picture intending for it to be for a Blue Monday stack post and then life happened?

Also yes! 😋

So here we are. This stack was too pretty for me not to share with you all. Especially since it features House of Sky and Breath, and as of this week, I have officially entered my Crescent City journey so, this needs to be commemorated.

💬 What’s your favorite color for a bookish stack?

I gravitate towards anything with red and black but this blue is speaking to me. 💙

🏷️ #bookishstack #bluebookstack #bookstagramfeatures #bookishaesthetic #bookishfeature taken in North Carolina by @vanessabookedup

256

55

a month ago

🐍💋 What was the latest addition you added to your shelves?

A huge thank you to @read_bloom and @oxfordlemon for this advanced copy of Kneel Before Me, the third and final book in the Spit or Swallow series.

Now that this entire series will be out, I’m looking forward to finally reading it. I’ve heard some very controversial things and the FOMO is setting in, ok?

🐍 Snake smut/ Shifter/ Monster romance
💚 Prequel that is supposed to deliver more background
💋 Forced proximity
⛓️ Love triangle
👹 Forbidden love

Yep yep yep, sign me UP! 🙌
I can’t wait to dive into this one!

📣𝐊𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 29𝐭𝐡!

💬 What’s a book that took you WAYYYYY out of your comfort zone?

I remember reading the You series way back in the day by Caroline Kepnes and how much it would lull me into a false sense of security because the psychopath had such a sparkling personality… Until he started murdering people. 😳

🏷️ #kissofthebasilisk #lindsaystraube #bloombooks #darkfantasyromance #bookmail by @vanessabookedup

3

17

a month ago

🌅💜🩷🧡 𝓢𝓾𝓷𝓼𝓮𝓽 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓬𝓴 🧡🩷💜🌅

❓Ok, let’s settle this once and for all… when does fall officially kick off for you?

I fear I’m in the vast minority on this one, but I am always holding on to the last dregs of summer with my clenched fists!! 🤣 And although I do love fall too, summer is my fave. Give me all the sun, heat, longer days, tan, less clothes, pool… this can go on forever. 😁

So regardless of where you stand on this, here’s a sunset book stack for ya because the sun is setting on summer 2026. 🥺😩💔

🏷️ #bookishstack #bookstacklove #sunsetbookstack #bookishaesthetic #bookstagramming taken in Lake Norman, NC by @vanessabookedup

3

38

a month ago

❓𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨? 🖤

The absolute spoiling I received from @katieknightauthor and Dark Knight Publishing. THANK YOU!! ❤️‍🔥

I am SAT for these special editions. I can’t wait to dive in to all of these!

• 𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 - M/M, college, dark romance
• 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 - Why choose, enemies to lovers, dark romance
• 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘿𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 - Why choose, dark fantasy romance

I love a versatile author whose stories offer a little bit of everything. Who are a few of your faves?

By the way, these are all available now!

🏷️ #whychooseromance #kaknight
#bookishreels #darkromanceauthor #specialeditionbooks taken in North Carolina by @vanessabookedup

3

15

a month ago