New year, new reading goal! This year I choose 100 books, as I have for the past 2 years and I’m over a quarter way though my goal as I managed to read a whopping 29 books this month. Thanks to Lockdown 2.0 I have had a lot of free time on my hands and I spent almost all of my free time reading.
Just so this blog isn’t crazy long I’m just going to name the book, the rating I gave them, my favourite quote from the book/series and a sentence that sums it up, I will also include any trigger warnings if the book has any. I will also group the smaller trilogies into one, to shorten the length.
The Books
1. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
- 5/5 Stars
- Angels, Chimera, wishbones and pain.
"Infinities are not for casual exploration. You could fall and keep falling. You could get lost."
(cw (for the series); graphic attempted sexual assault scene, reference to assault scene. self injury)
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
- 5/5 Stars
- Fae Beauty and the Beast retelling with reference to the Scottish Ballad Tam Lin.
"Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all."
(cw; confinement, torture, death, emotional/psychological abuse, sexual assault)
3. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
- 5/5 Stars
- Fae boys with wings reign supreme, very loose Hades and Persephone retelling.
"When you spend so long trapped in darkness, Lucien, you find that the darkness begins to stare back."
(cw; torture, death, PTSD, depression, physical/emotional and psychological abuse, mentioned child abuse, past/referenced sexual assault)
4. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas
- 5/5 Stars
- Melodramatic high lords wage war.
"What we think to be our greatest weakness can sometimes be our biggest strength"
(cw; past/referenced sexual assault, death.)
5. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
- 3/5 Stars
- Fae with wings climaxes to image of his not yet conceived child.
"Stars flickered around us, sweet darkness sweeping in. As if we were the only souls in a galaxy."
6. Vicious by L.J Shen
- 5/5 Stars
- Arrogant bully with emotional issues falls for the sweet girl next door.
"Spending time with my staff reminded me why humans were my least favorite creatures. I'd always been antisocial."
(cw; bullying, child abuse, drug use, drinking, physical abuse.)
7. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas
- 5/5 Stars
- Sexy half-fae solves murder with sexy fallen angel.
"Vengeance incarnate. Wrath's bruised heart. She would bow for no one. Hunt's lightning sang at the sight of that beautiful, brutal face."
(cw; drug and alcohol abuse, violence, torture, suicidal thoughts, slut shaming, attempted sexual assault, loss of a friend)
8. The Hades Trials (The Power of Hades, The Passion of Hades, The Promise of Hades) by Eliza Raine and Rose Wilson)
- 4/5 stars (all 3 books)
- Girl gets kidnapped by Zeus only to find out she is Hades ex-wife
"You brought light, and life, to a place where I thought none could exist."
(cw; torture)
9. To Be Devoured by Sara Tantlinger
- 5/5 Stars
- Absolutely horrific look into one girls grief that causes her to do the unthinkable.
"But at least it is my ending, my bitter devouring. At least it is something they cannot take from me."
(cw; mentions of suicide, domestic violence, loss of a loved one, animal cruelty, and cannibalism)
10. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- 5/5 Stars
- 6 kids do a heist, please stop simping for these characters they are all minors.
"I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all."
(cw; violence, death, graphic injuries, PTSD, mentioned sexual assault/trafficking, slavery, racism, genocide.)
11. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
- 5/5 Stars
- 6 kids deal with the aftermath of the heist.
"The really bad monsters never look like monsters."
(cw; same warnings as Six of Crows)
12. Happiness Vol 1&2 by Shuzo Oshimi
- 3/5 Stars (for both volumes)
- Boy becomes vampire and nothing happens during these two volumes
(cw; graphic gore)
13. A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova
- 4/5 Stars
- Magic girl is married to King in order to keep his world from dying.
"Some people can never be hidden; they are meant to be seen."
14. The Bargainer Series (Rhapsodic, A Strange Hymn, Dark Harmony and the novella The Emperor of Evening Stars) By Laura Thalassa
- 4/5 Stars (for all 4 books)
- Siren makes a deal with the wrong person and has to pay for it.
"You’re not going to stop living your life because some days are harder than others."
(cw; rape, forced pregnancy, torture.)
15. The Princes Prisoner (Fae, Prince of War, Unwilling Bride) by Quinn Blackbird
- 3/5 Stars (for all 3 books)
- Not the fluffy romance I was expecting, dark Beauty and the Beast retelling.
"Sacrifice is no noble thing in the fae realm."
(cw; captivity, torture, forced/coerced marriage, Stockholm Syndrome symptoms, violence, emotional, psychological and physical abuse, questionable consent.)
16. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
- 5/5 Stars
- Innocent girl gets corrupted by brooding dark haired man,
"Fear and bravery are often one and the same. It either makes you a warrior or a coward. The only difference is the person it resides in."
(cw, physical, emotional and psychological abuse, gaslighting)
17. A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
- 5/5 Stars
- Beauty and the Beast retelling with a kickass main gal and a handsome prince.
"Failure isn't absolute, just because you couldn't save everyone doesn't mean you didn't save anyone."
(cw; violence, death, suicide mention, suicide, mentioned self harm, mentioned rape, mentioned pedophelia, mental illness, PTSD, kidnapping/abduction)
18. A Heart so Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
- 4/5 Stars
- That handsome prince? He is a dick.
"I keep hoping for peace. I keep longing for empathy. I keep expecting people to act as I would."
(cw; graphic violence, torture, torture of a child, murder.)
19. The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
- 5/5 Stars
- Angsty, dark, Slytherin Romance.
"Doing the right thing is not always easy. And being the bigger person, the first to reach out with kindness, takes great strength of character."
(cw; physical violence and murder)
20. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
- 5/5 Stars
- oh my gosh, the angst is unbelievable.
"Find forgiveness and acceptance in your heart, or darkness will seep in and destroy you."
(cw; grief, loss of a loved one, gore, bloodletting, near death experience.)
21. A Vow so Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer
- 5/5 Stars
- Grey is the best character in this series, we stan.
"Yield to yourself. Yield to forgiveness. Yield to happiness. Yield to this moment. It's not hers. It's yours. It's mine."
(cw; death, torture, violence, mentioned suicide, murder, PTSD)
22. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E Schwab
-5/5 Stars
- Absolutely amazing yet heartbreaking
"What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?"
(cw; death, starvation, payment for sexual acts, recreational and self-mediating drug use, emotional manipulation, attempted suicide, depression, and violence)
And there we have it, my January wrap-up, I done really well this month and here’s hoping the rest of the year is just as good.
If I have missed any triggers please let me know and I will add them.
astrumreader 