Book Review: Misrule [Malice Duology #2] (arc)

Misrule [Malice Duology #2] (arc) (2022) by Heather Walter

Fiction | YA | Fantasy | LGBTQ

Disclaimer: In every review that I complete, I try my best to avoid spoilers of any kind and include spoiler warnings when necessary.

About the book (from Goodreads)

Did they break the curse, or begin one? Sleeping Beauty's dark sorceress reclaims her story in this sequel to Malice

The Dark Grace is dead.

Feared and despised for the sinister power in her veins, Alyce has spent 100 years wreaking her revenge on the kingdom that made her an outcast. Once a realm of decadence and beauty, Briar is now wholly Alyce's wicked domain. No one escapes the consequences of her wrath.

Not even the one person who holds her heart.

Princess Aurora saw through Alyce's thorny facade, earning a love that promised the dawn of a new age. But that love came with a heavy price: Aurora now sleeps under a curse that even Alyce's vast power cannot seem to break, and their dream of the world they would have built together is nothing but ash.

Alyce vows to do anything to wake the woman she loves, even if it means descending into the monster Briar believed her to be. But could Aurora ever love the villain Alyce has become?

Or is true love only for fairy tales?

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Note: Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for allowing me access to this arc! Please note that all opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Malice (Malice Duology #1)

I think it is important to note that before reading this arc, I read the first book in the series (Misrule) and rated it ☆☆☆☆ on Goodreads! It had been on my tbr for a while, and I didn't want to go into the second book without reading the first!

My Review of Misrule

Going into this book, I had high hopes for it! The first one was a good read (it didn't BLOW me away, but I enjoyed it), so I figured the second one would be as well! In some ways, I was right! There were a lot of differences, but the writing style was still the same, and I appreciate that.

The Good Things

1. The first half of the book is great! I had no problem reading until around the 55% mark in one shot, as it is seemingly fast-paced until that point.

2. The world-building, much like the first, is decent.

3. The character's backgrounds are well-written and fitting of a fantasy book.

The Bad Things

1. The characters were lackluster and a lot less relatable than the characters in the first book. I found myself in agony over a lot of their decisions and actions.

2. I don't feel like this is a good enough conclusion to a duology. Why am I so disappointed?

3. The second half of the book just seemed to DRAG. Hence, my 3-star rating. I think that maybe this book would have been better as a novella, and shortened significantly.

My Final Rating:

☆☆☆ (Goodreads)

☆☆☆ (Blog)

☆☆☆ (Amazon - will post as soon as the book is released)

Release Date: May 10, 2022. Pre-order this from Amazon by clicking here!

If you have access to this ARC, please feel free to leave comments concerning how you liked -or didn't like, no judgment here- it! If you don't have access, let me know if this is on your tbr! I would love to hear your thoughts!

Book Review: Prince of Ash and Shadow (arc)

Prince of Ash and Shadow (2022) by K.A. Erickson

Fiction | Fantasy | Adult

Disclaimer: In every review that I complete, I try my best to avoid spoilers of any kind and include spoiler warnings when necessary.

About the book (from Goodreads)

Perfect for fans of Ilona Andrews and Raven Kennedy, this book about a sassy necromancer and her surprise marriage to a Faerie Prince is impossible to put down.

A life for a life.

I didn’t expect a dying prince and his guard to wind up on my doorstep—but when you run an underground healing ring for the Fae, expectations go out the window. As a necromancer with a price on my head, I keep a low profile by doing favors for the Fae: healing the outcasts and criminals in exchange for information on my pursuer. Keeping my feet planted firmly on the wrong side of the law is what’s kept me safe. Hidden. I heal whoever walks through my door, and they pay me in something far more valuable than gold. That strategy worked for years—until a princeling with an attitude problem finds me.

A soul for a soul.

Prince Rayden Darkbringer claims that he was sent by my former best friend—that she knew I could help him. When I refuse, he offers me a deal: save his life, and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep me safe from the man I’m running from.

A man that happens to be his older brother.

A death for a death.

The problem? The only way to save Rayden is to bind our souls together—permanently. With the bond forcing us to remain together and enemies at our heels, we soon find ourselves embroiled in Court politics and an assassination plot that spans the entirety of Faerie. Somehow, we must survive long enough to depose his brother and reclaim Rayden’s throne. But Rayden isn’t the only one with a dark past and hidden powers, and the real question isn’t whether we can survive in the wake of his brother’s deceit.

It’s if we can survive each other.

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Note: Thank you to K.A. Erickson for an arc copy of this book! Please note that all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

My Review

Holy. Crap. I was NOT prepared to be hooked right away. I read the entire book in two short sittings (I only stopped because I was reading at 3 in the morning and knew my daughter would be awake before 9). The prologue is gory and intriguing, and I can't even begin to describe my excitement once I finished it.

"You may call me Lady Carnage."

The Good Things

1. The story is thrilling and hooks you from the start.

2. The language is perfectly fitting of a fantasy.

3. Too many times have I read a fantasy novel where the characters are too similar; Erickson does a fantastic job at avoiding that. The characters are interesting and written in a way that they don't blend.

4. Ren. I don't know why, but I'm a sucker for his type of character. I'm hooked, and I want to read an entire story about him.

The Bad Things

1. This is a REALLY fast-paced story. Though this isn't necessarily a bad thing, some of the scenes transition far too quickly into one another.

2. This is a short book, so if you're looking for a long fantasy read, you should wait until a few more books in the series are released! I certainly can't wait to read more!

Overall, the story is thrilling, the characters and interesting and well-written, and the book in its entirety is a fast-paced read, fitting of a fantasy. Highly recommend!

My Final Rating:

☆☆☆☆☆ (Blog)

☆☆☆☆☆ (Goodreads)

☆☆☆☆☆ (Facebook & Instagram)

☆☆☆☆☆ (Amazon - will post as soon as the book is released)

Release Date: February 1, 2022. Pre-order this from Amazon by clicking here!

Note: the prequel to this book (Daughter of Smoke and Stars) is set to be released on February 4, 2022. Pre-order this from Amazon by clicking here!

If you have access to this ARC, please feel free to leave comments concerning how you liked -or didn't like, no judgment here- it! If you don't have access, let me know if this is on your tbr! I would love to hear your thoughts!

Book Review: Black Cake (arc)

Black Cake (arc) (2022) by Charmaine Wilkerson

Fiction | Historical Fiction | Mystery

Disclaimer: In every review that I complete, I try my best to avoid spoilers of any kind and include spoiler warnings when necessary.

About the book (from Goodreads)

In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past--a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.

We can't choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage, and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to "share the black cake when the time is right"? Will their mother's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

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Note: Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for allowing me access to this arc! Please note that all opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Review

As someone who doesn't enjoy black cake -a Caribbean rum cake made with dried, soaked fruit and blackened sugar-, I hoped that a book named after the dessert would be much better. In some ways, my hopes were fulfilled, but for the most part, they were not.

The Good Things

1. The story is solid and involves the re-connecting of two estranged siblings -Benny and Byron- when they are introduced with an intriguing six-hour-long voice recording from their mother after her death. This recording is a multi-generational family story that coincides with the gift that she left them: a black cake.

2. Most of the characters throughout the book and interesting and well-thought-out.

3. The writing style is unique and much different than any books I've read recently, especially considering Wilkerson's use of English dabbled with patois (a form of Jamaican creole).

Black Cake has a seemingly solid storyline, interesting characters, and the author, Charmain Wilkerson, has a unique writing style. However, despite consisting of a recipe for a perfect book, I felt like this one missed the mark a little bit, and here's why.

The Bad Things

1. The points of view were a bit jumpy and often confusing. I understand this was done intentionally, but some of the transitioning could have been smoother.

2. There was just TOO much going on throughout the stories that Eleanor tells. There is just too much to dig through to make the overall read worthwhile.

3. Parts of the story dragged, and I found myself forcing my way through it.

My Final Rating:

☆☆☆ (Goodreads)

☆☆☆ (Blog)

☆☆☆ (Amazon - will post as soon as the book is released)

Release Date: February 1, 2022. Pre-order this from Amazon by clicking here!

If you have access to this ARC, please feel free to leave comments concerning how you liked -or didn't like, no judgment here- it! If you don't have access, let me know if this is on your tbr! I would love to hear your thoughts!