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Visualizzazione post con etichetta fantasy. Mostra tutti i post

#RentABook | Rose in Chains & The Perks of Being a Dramione Shipper

venerdì 4 luglio 2025

Buongiorno booklovers, come state' A breve arriverà la recensione di uno dei libri che si preannuncia fenomeno del 2025, ossia Rose In Chains, di Julie Soto, nato sulla piattaforma "Archive of Our Own" come fanfiction legata a Hermione Granger e Draco Malfoy della serie di Harry Potter.

I must admit, sono stata una Dramione shipper fin da quando avevo 14 anni, e diciamo che il trope redeemed bad boy x golden girl... beh, "it resonates with me".

In realtà, non è l'unica Dramione-inspired storia che salirà sugli scaffali. Qui sotto un piccolo spunto (e di più) se siete anche voi coinvolti da questi personaggi.


THE IRRESISTIBLE URGE TO FALL FOR YOUR ENEMY, DI BRIGITTE KNIGHTLEY


TRAMA:

Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, is in dire need of healing. Naturally – such is the grim comedy of fate – the only healer who can help is Aurienne Fairhrim, preeminent scientist, bastion of moral good, and member of an enemy Order.

Aurienne is desperate for funding to heal the sick - so desperate that, when Osric bribes her to help him, she accepts, even if she detests him and everything he stands for.

A forced collaboration ensues: the brilliant Woman in STEM is coerced into working with the PhD in Murders, much to Aurienne's disgust. As Osric and Aurienne work together to heal his illness and investigate the mysterious reoccurrence of a deadly pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the heat between them.

...

L'ho letto, ed è stato bellissimo.


...

ALCHEMISED, DI SEN LIN YU


TRAMA:

“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.

In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile, undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.

According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?

To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost...

...

Ho letto Alchemised (Manacled) quando era ancora su Ao3, e ho pianto anche l'acqua del battesimo. Attendo la versione cartacea


...

E... ovviamente...

ROSE IN CHAINS, DI JULIE SOTO


TRAMA:

Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death. Her brother, fated to be heir twice over and unite the warring kingdoms, is dead.

Stripped of her Mind Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly auctioned off to the highest bidders in an auction – and as the heir-apparent’s sister, she fetches the highest price.

After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven a high ranking Bomardsun – and her long-time and ill-fated infatuation. Scion of a family known for their cruel control of Heart Magic, the Hearsts are ruthlessly ambitious, and Briony knows they will use her however they can to further their own interests.

Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help – and hope – may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…


...

Letto, ed è per me un grande SI (piccolo spoiler).

Happy Release Day | Animae Duae, Animus Unus di Chiara Saccuta

giovedì 8 maggio 2025

Buongiorno booklovers, come state? Oggi voglio augurare buona uscita alla novella di una serie che orma è entrata nel mio cuore da secoli immensi: si tratta di Animae Duae, Animus Unus, di Chiara Saccuta!


SCHEMA:

1. Per Aspera ad Astra

2. Post Fata Resurgo

2.5. Animae Duae, Animus Unus

3. TBA

4. TBA

5. TBA






SCHEDA TECNICA:

Nome: Animae Duae, Aminus Unus

Autore: Chiara Saccuta

Genere: Romantasy con elementi Sci-Fi

Data: 08 maggio 2025

Editore: Lumien


TRAMA:

La Guerra per l'Era dei Buchi Neri è cominciata.

La distruzione di Mercurio ha dato il via a una catena di eventi violenti e sanguinosi che sta travolgendo l’intero Sistema Solare. Le fazioni si preparano a uno scontro brutale e le alleanze più improbabili prendono forma nell’ombra. Le scelte di pochi minacciano di stravolgere le vite di molti. E a pagarne il prezzo sono anche Lance e Damaris.

L’Idrolos è sopravvissuto, insieme alla madre e al fratello, ma il suo mondo è andato in frantumi. Ha perso tutto: la famiglia, gli amici, la casa, le ambizioni. È a pezzi, come il proprio pianeta d’origine, senza più una ragione per sopravvivere in quel folle e freddo Kosmos. Ma, soprattutto, ha perso la fiducia in Edward, o quantomeno in ciò che il suo vecchio amico si è trasformato.

Dall’altro lato del Kosmos, Damaris si ritrova invischiata nei complotti che serpeggiano tra i palazzi di Marte e l’harem di suo padre. Stanca e indebolita, con il Sole che sembra averla abbandonata, viene avvicinata da esseri del profondo cielo dei quali non riesce a comprendere le intenzioni. Chi è davvero dalla sua parte? Di chi può fidarsi? E soprattutto… da che parte schierarsi? Da quella dei Nox e di Edward, o da quella di Ramses e della Compagnia di Astrea?

Nessuna delle loro scelte sarà presa a cuor leggero, perché le conseguenze potrebbero essere devastanti


...

Lo leggerete, booklovers?

...


Teaser Tuesdays | Enchantra di Kaylie Smith

martedì 1 aprile 2025

Buongiorno booklovers, come state? Primo d'aprile ma anziché scherzi oggi ho il Teaser di un romanzo in uscita negli US/UK settimana prossima. Si tratta di Enchantra, un dark romantasy, sequel/spin-off di Phantasma, che se mi conoscete bene sapete che ho amato. 

PS: i libri sono autoconclusivi ma legati (Genevieve è la sorella di Ophelia, protagonista di Phantasma).



SCHEMA:

1. Phantasma (Ophelia e Blackwell)

2. Enchantra (Genevieve e Rowin)







SCHEDA TECNICA:

Nome: Enchantra

Autore: Kaylie Smith

Data: 08 aprile 2025 (UK/US)

Genere: Romantasy; Dark Fantasy


TRAMA:

Welcome to Enchantra. There's only one rule: Never, ever trust your heart.

When Genevieve Grimm's mother is killed, Genevieve wants answers no one can give... until she receives an invitation to Enchantra, a cursed palace filled with temptations and illusions.

Arrogant and dangerously handsome, Rowin Silver meets her at the door and refuses to let her inside. But Genevieve finds her own way in... And soon realizes her mistake.

Enchantra is a twisted labyrinth of marble and thorns, where Rowin's family are trapped forever in a deadly game. Now, Genevieve must win or die.

Rowin offers her a deal. They can compete together... if they convince everyone watching that they're desperately in love.

Genevieve knows she can't trust Rowin, but she'll do whatever it takes to survive. As they hunt and hide together, Genevieve tries to ignore the desire burning between them. She absolutely cannot fall for this man. Cannot forget that she's only pretending to be in love.

After all, it was Rowin who taught her Enchantra's first rule: Never, ever trust your heart.


...

L'ho ovviamente già preordinato (anche perché Ophelia e Blackwell >>>)

Voi lo leggerete?

Recensione | The Irresistible Urge To Fall For Your Enemy di Brigitte Knightley (ARC)

giovedì 6 marzo 2025

Buongiorno booklovers, come state? Oggi vi porto una recensione che, da Dramione shipper, attendevo troppo di fare. Si tratta dell'ARC di The Irresistible Urge To Fall For Your Enemy, di Brigitte Knightley!



SCHEMA:

1. The Irresistible Urge To Fall For Your Enemy di Brigitte Knightley

2. TBA





SCHEDA TECNICA:

Nome: The Irresistible Urge To Fall For Your Enemy

Autore: Brigitte Knightley

Data: 08 luglio 2025 (UK)

Genere: Romantasy

Editore: Little, Brown & Book UK


TRAMA:

Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, is in dire need of healing. Naturally – such is the grim comedy of fate – the only healer who can help is Aurienne Fairhrim, preeminent scientist, bastion of moral good, and member of an enemy Order.

Aurienne is desperate for funding to heal the sick - so desperate that, when Osric bribes her to help him, she accepts, even if she detests him and everything he stands for.

A forced collaboration ensues: the brilliant Woman in STEM is coerced into working with the PhD in Murders, much to Aurienne's disgust. As Osric and Aurienne work together to heal his illness and investigate the mysterious reoccurrence of a deadly pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the heat between them.


RECENSIONE - ENG:

First in a slow-burn duology, this novel follows the building relationship between two mortal enemies in a strange fantasy world. Aurienne Fairhrim, a scholar from the Haelan (Healer) Order, is serious, precise and does not really want to hear anything about Fyren, a Dusken Order of assassins. 

Unfortunately for her, a plague pox is ravaging into the younger part of population, and research needs a lot of money. Money Osric Mordaunt, one of the deadliest Fyren (and well-known idiot), has and uses to bribe Aurienne into trying to heal his neurodegenerative disease (his seith - his magic - will vanish for him to be subsequently killed by his Order for being mortal).

They are not exaclty cooperative. They are also idiots who refuse to acknoledge they're falling for each other...

I've already known Brigitte Knightley for Draco Malfoy & The Mortyfing Ordeal of Being in Love, which I loved, hence why I screamed when I saw my request was approved.

I fell in love with the magical setting, as Knightley created a world which is heavily layered in magic (and the Old Ways Osric & Aurienne are trying to recall) but also in our real world. I loved watching sad phenomena in modern times being used in the book, such as bioterrorism and a kind of biological warfare, which I'm sure it will be adeguately explained in the sequel.

And I fell in love with the MCs too. Aurienne (our Hermione) was probably more strict and serious that I'd expected, probably because Knightley was so good at describing her inner difense mode. It felt raw and real, the way Aurienne shuts down to protect herself.

As for Osric (Draco)... he's so damn stupid I love him. I love blonde smart-but-kind-of-stupid boys (even in real life), so maybe I'm being partial. He's drama queen and unserious but also caring and cunning when needed.


I know it's a slow burn, but I need the fireworks!

I can't wait to read the next installment.


RECENSIONE - ITA:

Primo libro in una dilogia romantasy slow-burn, questo romanzo segue la storia d'amore nascente tra due nemici mortali in un mondo fantasy avvolto dal mistero.

Aurienne Fairhrim è una studiosa che appartiene all'Ordine degli Haelan (Healer -> guaritrice), che seguono la "Bright Path". Seria, severa e (un botto) repressa, non sopporta nemmeno la minima menzione dell'Ordine avverso agli Haelan, i Fyren (che potremmo definire come una Gilda di Assassini), uno dei cosiddetti "Dusken Orders".

Purtroppo per lei, una forte peste sconosciuta, che colpisce solo bambini e adolescenti, sta esplodendo e mietendo vittime in tutto il territorio. Aurienne sa benissimo che serve denaro per la ricerca. Denaro che sicuramente Osric Mordaunt, uno dei più letali (quanto stupidi) Fyren, possiede benissimo.

Non ci vuole tanto prima che Osric "ricatti" col denaro Aurienne per obbligarla a cercare una cura nelle Vecchie Vie per la sua malattia degenerativa (il decadimento del suo "seith", fonte della magia).

I due non sono esattamente cooperativi. Sono anche talmente idioti che tentano di negare di essersi innamorati l'uno dell'altra.

...

Conoscevo già B. Knightley per aver letto la sua fanfiction "Draco Malfoy & The Mortyfing Ordeal of Being in Love" (sono una Dramione shipper e non me ne pento, anche nella vita reale cado per le red flag), quindi potete benissimo capire quanto abbia urlato quando ho visto la mia richiesta su Netgalley approvata.

Mi sono innamorata dell'ambientazione, poiché Knightley ha saputo creare un mondo che è pesantemente ispirato dal folklore (come le "Old Ways" che Osric e Aurienne stanno cercando) ma anche dal nostro mondo reale. 

Ho adorato vedere fenomeni tristi dei tempi moderni posti in chiave fantasy, come il bioterrorismo e una plot-line che sa molto di guerra biologica, che sono sicura saranno adeguatamente spiegati e approfonditi nel seguito.

E mi sono innamorata anche dei personaggi. Aurienne (la nostra Hermione) era probabilmente più severa e seria di quanto mi aspettassi. Brigitte è stata così brava a descrivere la sua modalità di difesa interiore. Il risultato è stato così crudo e reale riguardo il modo in cui Aurienne si chiude a riccio per proteggersi che non ho potuto fare altro che comprendere ed empatizzare con lei.

Quanto a Osric (Draco)... è così dannatamente stupido che lo adoro. Adoro i ragazzi biondi intelligenti ma anche un po' stupidi (forse nella vita reale), quindi "forse" sono di parte. È una drama queen assurda per essere un assassino, e anche alquanto poco serio, ma  premuroso e astuto quando serve.

Necessito i fuochi d'artificio tra i due al più presto. So che è stato uno slow burn, ma I NEED MOOOREEE (E IL SEQUEL).


...

DISCLAIMER(S):

ENG - I want to thank Little, Brown & Book UK for the digital ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) via Netgalley. I'm not affiliated to the author, to the publishing house or any other person/agency. My review is honest and based only on my thoughts/feeling while reading the book.

...

ITA - Ringrazio Little, Brown & Book UK per la copia digitale - ARC - via Netgalley. Non sono affiliata all'autrice, alla casa editrice o a ogni altra terza persona/agenzia. La mia recensione è onesta e basata solo sui miei pensieri e opinioni mentre leggevo il libro.


Anais di The Bookish Scorpio


...


Consigliato dai: 17 anni 

Rating: quattro stelline (four stars)







Release Day | Quicksilver di Callie Hart

martedì 28 gennaio 2025

Buondì booklovers, come state? Oggi è il release day di Quicksilver, un libro che ho sentito decantato qui e oltreoceano. Sono curiosa, lo ammetto, anche se la sinossi non mi convince più di tanto (quasi peggio della cover terribile).


SCHEMA:

1. Quicksilver

2. Brimstone (TBA)





SCHEDA TECNICA:

Nome: Quicksilver

Autore: Callie Hart

Data: 28 gennaio 2025

Genere: Romantasy

Editore: Rizzoli


TRAMA:

Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate.

In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.

...


Sono fortunata, fa parte della DreamerWhale di questo mese. Non vedo l'ora di averlo tra le mani! Voi lo leggerete?

Review Time | Seeds by Angie Paxton

martedì 7 gennaio 2025

    




INFO:

Title: Seeds

Author: Angie Paxton

Release Date: January 7th 2025

Genre: Fantasy, Retelling

Editore: Alcove Press


SUMMARY:

Kore has lived her entire life under her resentful mother Demeter’s shadow, trying her hardest to please a woman grown bitter by betrayal. With her self-esteem in tatters and deliberately isolated by her mother, it’s no surprise that Kore is flummoxed when she meets a collection of otherworldly women – the Goddesses of Olympus – who tell her that her mother is in truth a Goddess herself. Kore tells them her preferred name, Persephone, and hopes they will not only have answers for her new questions, but the friendship and love she craves. Instead, an imposing and stoic figure emerges from a nearby cave on a magical chariot and snatches Persephone away.

Upon realizing she has been taken to the Underworld by Hades, who desires she become his queen, Persephone vows to escape.

Demeter, enraged upon finding her daughter taken, goes to extreme lengths to reclaim her – putting the lives of all humanity, and even the gods, at risk.

Angie Paxton breathes new life into a myth that has been reshaped, adapted, and loved since Homer's "Hymn to Demeter." Seeds is a deeply romantic story of two lonely souls finding one another, the pressure put on children to forgive their parents’ abuse, and the power of resentment.


REVIEW:

Another take on the eternally famous Hades x Persephone myth, Angie Paxton narrates us a tale that starts with rejection, emptiness and the feeling of being an outcast and continues in a journey of self-discovery, empowerment and overcoming your prejudices.

I was really a fan of Kore's PoV chapters while in the Inferi, but at the same time I felt Demeter's PoV redundant and not so interesting as the young goddess' thoughts.

The romance felt a little bit strange, sometimes rushed, sometimes slow, and at the start I couldn't connect with the main characters, while Persephone's relationship with other Inferi being felt more realistic and sweet from the beginning.

In the end, it was a quick, interesting reading. If you are a fan of Hades x Persephone lore, I'll really recommend checking out Seeds.


...

Rating: ★★★

...


I want to thank Rising Action Publishing for the digital ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) via Netgalley. I'm not affiliated to the author, to the publishing house or any other person/agency. My review is honest and based only on my thoughts/feeling while reading the book.


Anais by The Bookish Scorpio

2025 | My Most Anticipated Novels

venerdì 3 gennaio 2025

Buongiorno booklovers, è folle da dire ma finalmente riesco a tornare su questi schermi dopo una lunga assenza!

Il periodo tra studio e lavoro è stato estremamente caotico, e mi ritrovo adesso a stilare la lista delle mie uscite più anticipate del 2025! Siete curiosi di sapere quali sono?



1. ONYX STORM, DI REBECCA YARROS


TRAMA:

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.


2. DEEP END, DI ALI HAZELWOOD

TRAMA:

A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...


3. FABLE FOR THE END OF THE WORLD, DI AVA REID


TRAMA:

The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this standalone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.

Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.

When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs—the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.

As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing.

And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.


4. SUNRISE ON THE REAPING, DI SUZANNE COLLINS


TRAMA:

When you've been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch's name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He's torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who's nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town.

As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he's been set up to fail. But there's something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.


5. ENCHANTRA, DI KAYLIE SMITH


TRAMA:

Ready or Not meets Throne of the Fallen in a spicy, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance, where an Italian getaway turns deadly after a young woman is trapped in her host family's cursed game.

Ready or not, the game has begun.

Genevieve Grimm has felt adrift ever since her sister became the head of the family. So when a mysterious friend of their mother's invites her to Italy, she accepts. She arrives at his grand palace, expecting passion and magic, decadence and luxury... perhaps even a midnight ball.

She doesn't expect the owner's ruthlessly handsome son to slam the door in her face. Rowin Silver is tall, dark, and exceptionally rude, and invitation or not, he demands Genevieve leave and never come back. But Genevieve follows nobody's orders, especially those of arrogant rich boys. She slips inside—and immediately discovers her mistake.

Rowin and his family are caught in an insidious game of hide and seek, where only one can win. The rest will be trapped in Hell... until the competition begins again.

Genevieve must either join the hunt or forfeit any hope of escaping. But to her dismay, her best chance of survival lies with Rowin. Since lovers may play as a pair, Rowin and Genevieve agree to form an alliance under the guise of a fake courtship. However, as they race through the game's elaborate labyrinth, trapped among gleaming gold and shining marble, their loathing gives way to irresistible attraction. Only Rowin is keeping secrets, especially when it comes to his ruthless family, and Genevieve can't help but wonder if she's trapped in two treacherous games: Enchantra and the one Rowin is playing with her heart.


6. A TREACHERY OF SWANS, DI AB PORANEK


TRAMA:

Magic has long been outlawed in Auréal . Odile has always known she’d be the one to restore it.

Raised by a sorcerer, Odile has spent years preparing for the heist of a lifetime. It’s perfectly simple. Impersonate a princess, infiltrate the palace, steal the king's enchanted crown and restore magic to the kingdom.

But when the King is unexpectedly murdered, she’s forced to recruit the help of Marie d'Odette, the real princess, and the two begin to unravel a web of lies and deceit that leaves Odile uncertain of who to trust.

Soon though Odile must decide – her mission or the girl she’s falling for?

The fate of the Kingdom depends on her making the right choice. . .


7. THE IRRESISTIBLE URGE TO FALL FOR YOUR ENEMY, DI BRIGITTE KNIGHTLEY


TRAMA:

Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, is in dire need of healing. Naturally – such is the grim comedy of fate – the only healer who can help is Aurienne Fairhrim, preeminent scientist, bastion of moral good, and member of an enemy Order.

Aurienne is desperate for funding to heal the sick - so desperate that, when Osric bribes her to help him, she accepts, even if she detests him and everything he stands for.

A forced collaboration ensues: the brilliant Woman in STEM is coerced into working with the PhD in Murders, much to Aurienne's disgust. As Osric and Aurienne work together to heal his illness and investigate the mysterious reoccurrence of a deadly pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the heat between them.


8. ATMOSPHERE, DI TAYLOR JENKINS REID


TRAMA:

An epic novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program and the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.

In the summer of 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins training to be an astronaut at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilots Hank Redmond and John Griffin; mission specialist Lydia Danes; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer. As the new astronauts prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined and begins to question everything she believes about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.

Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.


9. ROSE IN CHAINS, DI JULIE SOTO


TRAMA:

Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death. Her brother, fated to be heir twice over and unite the warring kingdoms, is dead.

Stripped of her Mind Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly auctioned off to the highest bidders in an auction – and as the heir-apparent’s sister, she fetches the highest price.

After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven a high ranking Bomardsun – and her long-time and ill-fated infatuation. Scion of a family known for their cruel control of Heart Magic, the Hearsts are ruthlessly ambitious, and Briony knows they will use her however they can to further their own interests.

Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help – and hope – may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…


10. ALCHEMISED, DI SEN LIN YU


TRAMA:

“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.

In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile, undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.

According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?

To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.



Review Time | Inferno's Heir by Tiffany Wang

mercoledì 20 novembre 2024

    






INFO:

Title: Inferno's Heir

Author: Tiffany Wang

Release Date: October 15th 2024

Genre: Fantasy

Editore: Alcove Press


SUMMARY:

Fearing for her life, an outcast princess joins the rebellion against her own kingdom and family. . . but when playing with fire, someone always gets burned. 

Teia Carthan abandoned her morals long ago, and now there’s nothing she won’t do to stay alive. So far she has survived her parents’ deaths, the ire of the Council, and innumerable attempts on her life, orchestrated by Jura, her half brother and soon-to-be king of Erisia. Teia’s rare control over two elements marks her as both an outsider and a formidable opponent—but once Jura is crowned king, there will be no way to survive him. Not for Teia, not for anyone. 

When Jura moves to crush the rebellion that seeks to overthrow the monarchy, Teia sees one last opportunity to ensure her own safety. She can infiltrate the rebels, locate their base . . . and betray them to Jura, trading their lives for her own. 

Yet when Teia meets the rebels, she gets far more than she bargained for. And when she gains not only their trust but their friendship, she begins to have doubts. Perhaps the rebels are right. Perhaps the Golden Palace should be torn down and the monarchy destroyed. 

But then again—what if there is another possibility? What if Teia were on the throne instead? 


REVIEW:

Teia Carthan's life is a mess not only for being a princess, the only having royal blood other than her psychopatic and sadistic older half-brother Jura.

What about being daughter to two enemy countries, the late Erisian king and the Shaylani witch?

What about being able to bend both fire and water?

Jura's coronation is approaching, and news of a possible firebender in the Dawnbreakers rebels are frightening the Erisian court, prompting Jura to repress even more people. 

Her name is Kyra Medoh, and Teia Carthan is getting involved in it.

She will try everything to prevent Jura from seizing the throne and finally destroying her country.

Even siding with the rebels: pure Kyra, witty Alara and dangerously charming Tobias are growing on her every minute, even if Dawnbreakers leader Cornelius Lehm seems as reliable as a striking viper involved in plots that seem darker by every minute.

If they succeed in their mission, Teia's mind is thinking on a possible outcome: her on the throne.

She needs to choose now: their trust... or their security.


...


Inferno's Heir is an interesting debut, with a weaker start but a really strong ending (with a terrible cliffhanger).

We are in a fantasy world with many countries: the history is set in Erisia, with the royal family being the only ones to bend fire (Teia is half Shaylani, the country with whom Erisia was at war), in some ways similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I found the characters to be really interesting, probably the gemstones of the books: I'd have wanted to see more the Dawnbreakers and their relationships with Teia (yes, I'm talking about two couples).

The plot kept me hooked until the last page (I screamed, yes). I sensed there was something wrong, but Wang threw a genius move in the end!


I honestly can't wait to read the sequel.


...


Rating: ★★★★


...


I want to thank Bindery Books for the digital ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) via Netgalley. I'm not affiliated to the author, to the publishing house or any other person/agency. My review is honest and based only on my thoughts/feeling while reading the book.


Anais by The Bookish Scorpio

Review Time | A Dark and Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney

martedì 29 ottobre 2024

 




INFO:

Title: A Dark & Secret Magic

Author: Wallis Kinney

Release Date: October 8th 2024

Genre: Cozy Fantasy; Romance

Editore: Alcove Press


SUMMARY:

A warm, spellbinding tale about a witch and the secrets her coven has been keeping from her, with echoes of the classic Hades and Persephone story, in the tradition of Practical Magic and Witch of Wild Things.

Hecate Goodwin, Kate to her friends, has curated the perfect life as a hedge witch, living in a secluded cottage with only a black cat for company. She spends her days foraging herbs from the Ipswich forest, gardening, and creating tinctures to sell at the apothecary she owns. Most evenings pass without her speaking to another human being, an arrangement she quite prefers.

Kate’s solitude is thrown into disarray when her older sister, Miranda, reaches out and asks her to host their coven’s annual Halloween gathering. The day marks the beginning of the new year for witches and is also Kate’s birthday. The pressure from her coven to make the evening memorable mounts as the event draws near. To complicate things further, a handsome man from Kate’s past turns up at her cottage, asking for sanctuary. It is Kate’s duty as a hedge witch to honor this request, much to her dismay. Matthew Cypher is no ordinary lost soul–he’s a practitioner of forbidden magic who’s tricked Kate once before, and her guard is up.

As she juggles Matthew’s arrival and the preparations for Halloween, Kate comes across an old tome shrouded in dark magic. She is horrified when she realizes the blood-red inscription is written in familiar handwriting: her recently deceased mother’s. Afraid to even touch the dark magic her mother secretly studied, Kate can turn only to Matthew for help. Her idealized memory of her mother begins to distort, and as she and Matthew grow closer, Kate has to reevaluate whom she can really trust.

A Dark and Secret Magic is a celebration of the Halloween season and a love letter to anyone who drinks pumpkin spice in August and carries the spirit of a witch inside their heart all year long.


REVIEW:

Hedge witch Hecate "Kate" Goodwin has been having a tough time since her late mother's passing.

A kitchen witch & one of the Atlantic Key's coven elders, she left Kate and her sisters: older sea witch Miranda, a kind of twisted Ariel with her red curls, and younger Celeste, a divination witch.

Like all the fellow witches & hexen, they chose their path at thirteen years old.

ALL. Except Hecate.

Since her birth on Samhain (Halloween, Oct 31st - Kate, my fellow Scorpio), her mother chose for her the hedge witch's path, an heresy. Hecate never discovered why.

But things, especially secrets, can't be buried forever. And with her thirty-first birthday approaching & the Containment Ritual set, in which a witch willingly chooses to give up some of her powers, her mother's legacy starts to bring up dark truths.

And with elder Margaret Halliwell's strange death and Matthew Cypher's arrival in Ipswich, a shadow hexen (necromancer) and heir to rival coven Pacific Gate, it's a fact that her life is starting to rot.

Because he's the same man with whom Kate has had a tumultous past. He claims he's here to protect here.

But it's an omen, and factually true, that The King Below is coming, and he won't stop to claim what he thinks is his. 

Or better, who.


...


Debut author Wallis Kinney has produced a spellbinding cozy (and also dark) tale, relying on witches' lore to create a lush book. It's natural that this book is meant to be read in October, in full spooky season mode, and especially in the week before Halloween, which also marks the very same start of the zodiac' Scorpio Season. 

Yeah, I think I'm a little bit unreliable on this, because I'm a Scorpio myself (er, double, both Sun & Moon) and this is my favourite year period.

Kinney's prose felt magnetic and stimulated my senses to imagine Goodwin Manor, its cottage, the near village, the witches' ritual. It's pretty great because English is not my primary language (in fact, it's Italian, its roots far away from English)... & yet the author made me feel all of this.

And made me feel for the characters. I fell in total synchrony with Kate and in total symphony with Matthew. Their path was so different yet so similar, bounded by their past or by other people.

I liked having some glimpses of Kate's sisters, Siren Miranda & Bubbly Celeste, and I'm secretly hoping for a spin-off on each of the Goodwins. Not so secretly, ups.

More pages into I fell in love with the setting, with every character - slightly rotten or not (yes, Sybil & Winifred, I'm talking about you, old hags!).. and after even more pages I start to see hints to Hades & Persephone lore, and yes, I start to dread the ending.

This book made me feel so much. I could say that it's a little bittersweet in some parts, but hey, this is the life. And even the sour can't compare to the cozy heat of famly, friends. 


And love. 

Amor vincit omnia.


Rating: ★★★★.5


...


I want to thank Alcove Press for the ARC kindly offered via Netgalley. I'm not bound to the publishing house, to the author and/or any other person related. My opinion is only based on my honest thoughts and feelings.


Anais by The Bookish Scorpio

Happy Release Day | Post Fata Resurgo di Chiara Saccuta

venerdì 18 ottobre 2024

Buongiorno booklovers, come state? Oggi voglio augurare buon compleanno al sequel di una delle mie gemme preferite del 2023, che ho già letto per via dell'anteprima a Stranimondi Milano!

Sto parlando di Post Fata Resurgo, di Chiara Saccuta. Siete pronti a tornare nel Kosmos?


SCHEMA:

1. Per Aspera ad Astra

2. Post Fata Resurgo

3. TBA

4. TBA

5. TBA






SCHEDA TECNICA:

Nome: Post Fata Resurgo

Autore: Chiara Saccuta

Genere: Romantasy con elementi Sci-Fi

Data: 18 ottobre 2024

Editore: Lumien


TRAMA:

Da quasi un anno, Edward Lannore e Ambrosine Lira sono separati, ma il Kosmos non è rimasto fermo ad aspettare che le cicatrici lasciate dalla loro unione si rimarginassero. L’Incarnazione Stellare di Vega è stata punita in modo esemplare, la reputazione della famiglia macchiata, forse per sempre. Ambrosine è rimasta sola, senza l’uomo che aveva giurato di proteggerla e senza il calore della sua stella. Alle sue spalle, amici e nemici complottano contro di lei, per usarla per il proprio tornaconto. Il Signore dei Buchi Neri è invece sparito, trasformandosi in una minaccia silenziosa che terrorizza le famiglie stellari. La Compagnia di Astrea e i Pilastri della Creazione sono sulle sue tracce, ma ad essersi perso è anche lui, costretto a seguire una via che sembra non appartenergli: quella dell’Era dei Buchi Neri. Il suo potere è cresciuto, il controllo sulle sue creazioni è diventato più solido e affidabile, ma fame e dubbi lo divorano. Le stelle brillano ancora, ma forze diverse minacciano la loro luce. Anche quella di Vega. Qualcosa si muove dentro e fuori il Sistema Solare. Qualcosa di pericoloso, di sconosciuto. Il risveglio di timori passati e di una nuova grande guerra nel Kosmos ha portato alla formazione di insolite e meschine alleanze. Nella vastità del Sistema Solare, luci e ombre si confondono, bene e male perdono di significato. Schiacciati da rimorsi, paure e responsabilità, Edward e Ambrosine devono di nuovo trovare il loro posto nell'Universo. C'è da capire soltanto se il posto sarà lo stesso.


...

Lo leggerete, booklovers?

...

ATTENZIONE: Io, Chiara, Agnese (attraversalibri) e Francesca (memoriediunalettricedisperata) organizzeremo un Post Fata Resurgo GDL dal 21 ottobre al 21 novembre!

Recensione: Qualcuno in cui fare il nido di John Wiswell (ARC)

giovedì 26 settembre 2024

Buongiorno booklovers, oggi sono qui per raccontarvi dell'ultimo ARC che ho finito di leggere, e che penso purtroppo rientri tra i peggiori libri letti quest'anno. Si tratta di "Qualcuno in cui fare un nido", di John Wiswell.





SCHEDA TECNICA:

Nome: Qualcuno in cui fare il nido

Autore: John Wiswell

Data: 20 novembre 2024

Genere: Fantasy; Romance, LGBTQ+, Horror

Editore: Ne/oN Libri


TRAMA:

Shesheshen è una mutaforma, che risiede felicemente come un grumo amorfo sul fondo di un maniero in rovina. Quando il suo letargo viene interrotto da cacciatori intenzionati a ucciderla, si costruisce un corpo con gli avanzi dei suoi pasti passati: una catena di metallo come spina dorsale, e una trappola per orsi in mezzo al petto. Ma i cacciatori hanno la meglio: ferita gravemente, Shesheshen viene trovata e curata da Homily, un’umana dal cuore tenero che la scambia per un suo simile. Homily è gentile e premurosa: la persona ideale in cui deporre le uova, assicurando ai futuri piccoli di Shesheshen nutrimento in abbondanza per la crescita. Peccato che Homily si trovi da quelle parti perché sta dando la caccia a un mostro mutaforma che ha maledetto la sua famiglia. Shesheshen, però, non ha maledetto proprio nessuno: perché la famiglia di Homily è convinta invece di sì?


RECENSIONE:

Shesheshen è una mutaforma che dimora nell'antro di una caverna e il cui letargo viene interrotto da un trio di cacciatori, decisi a uccidere una volta per tutte la viverna di Underlook (lei).

Sopravvissuta ma ferita gravemente dal rosmarino (uno dei suoi punti deboli), e non senza aver ucciso l'erede della famiglia più in vista della zona, i Wulfyre, Shesheshen viene recuperata da un'umana, Homily, che si prende cura di lei, scambiandola per una sua simile.

La mutaforma commette un grave errore, si fa intenerire da questa buffa umana, ritenendola la compagna perfetta in cui deporre le uova dei suoi piccoli (si, avete letto bene), che in stile Alien la divoreranno dall'interno (yuck).

Peccato che la signorina Homily di cognome faccia Wulfyre e che stia dando la caccia al mostro che ha ucciso il fratello, il mostro che ha gettato una maledizione sull'intera famiglia (anche se Shesheshen non lo ha fatto).

Paradossalmente, Shesheshen si unisce alla caccia di sé stessa, perorata dalla matriarca Wulfyre, la Baronessa e dalle figlie superstiti (Homily inclusa), l'arrogante Epigram e la tanto folle quanto giovane Ode.

...

Se vi state domandando se io sia sotto l'influsso di qualcosa dopo aver letto il breve riassunto che ho fatto della trama di "Qualcuno in cui fare il nido", mi dispiace deludervi (e deludermi), ma non sto scherzando.

Probabilmente questo è stato il più grande limite nella mia esperienza di lettura, ovvero l'essere un genere follemente diverso da quello a cui sono abituata, oltre a una tripla dose di splatter (leggetelo lontano dai pasti se siete deboli di stomaco), condito con personaggi complessi ma che cadono in uno stereotipo uno dopo l'altro (il mostro che ha un cuoricino tenero ma non si capisce perché, oltre allo splatter simil-Alien; l'umana maltratta e incompresa se non dal reietto; la famiglia ricca e arrogante che bistratta i diversi - compresa la loro figlia, e cacciatori inetti).

Il libro non è esente da intenzioni nobili, come mostrarci la prospettiva capovolta di qualsiasi romanzo fantasy (e lo ho apprezzato), nonché svolgere un'inquisizione sulla diversità e su come essa venga molto spesso repressa.

Purtroppo il mio mal di stomaco ha superato di gran lunga la tentata comprensione dei ragionamenti svolti e dei personaggi.


Non sono purtroppo in grado di aggiungere altro, se non che sono rimasta delusa da una lettura che sarebbe potuta essere un piccolo gioiellino.

...


Ringrazio fortemente Ne/oN libri per la fiducia concessami nell'assegnazione dell'ARC digitale via Netgalley. Specifico che il mio parere non è affiliato né alla casa editrice né a terzi, e in quanto ciò é totalmente basato sulle mie sensazioni e opinioni.

Anais, di The Bookish Scorpio.




Consigliato dai: 16 anni

Rating: una stellina
 
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