Welcome to Litsy!

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView !

1. The tagged book!
2. I adored the setting and world building, and I just really loved Muna a lot. 💕

#Two4Tuesday

Sisters Muna & Sakti travel to England to break the curse that‘s stolen their memories. Only, Sakti disappears, Muna has to pretend to know magic, & the Realm of Fairy wants to start a war.

A good stand alone after Sorcerer. A bit of a slow start, & the romance wasn‘t developed enough. But overall, this was a charming & delightful fantasy/mystery fusion. There‘s magic, a stolen amulet, a rescue from a dragon, & women being awesome. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

I only have two hours left in the tagged book, and I would absolutely recommend it. Especially if you liked Sorcerer to the Crown. The audiobook is fantastically well done.

I‘d also recommend it if you enjoy the Kingston Cycle trilogy by CL Polk.

#SundayFunday Have a great day, and don‘t forget to tag me!

Would anyone like to guess what single plant I put into this vegetable box five years ago?

If you guessed mint, congrats! You win an internet cookie and my groans of frustration. 😂 #AudioWeeding

Catching up with #12booksof2021 with my favorite from #May that was one of three speculative books on this list. 😎

Well this turned out to be a fun read! My only real complaint is the time between books. For part of the book I had no idea where it was going, and that‘s a good thing. Then I figured it out, and that was also a good thing. Then near the end something happened that made me cheer out loud.
#seriesread2021
#readathon

ETA: this is also a #bookspin selection

Dragons, fairies, witches, and other #magic creatures and beings are the players in this delightful book. #MayCharacters

Well this was just delightful. I was still in my book funk and this light fantasy was perfect for a rapid one sitting read. This is the second in the series - and it kinda reminds me of a romance series because we‘ve moved on to focus on two new protagonists, giving a spotlight to a character that was in the background in the first book.
If you haven‘t tried this series yet I‘d put it as Parasol Protectorate meets Harry Potter. It could be⬇️

#TBRPile 📚 When her sister vanishes while in the realm of the Fairy Queen, Muna‘s only hope lies in distant Britain where the Sorceress Royal runs a controversial academy for female magicians. All Muna needs to do is trick the English into believing she is a magical prodigy, find her sister, break their curse, and somehow stay out of trouble...

I liked book 1 and was happy to finally pick up book 2. The primary characters from book 1 are background characters here. A bit predictable in spots, but Cho brought the characters to life with alternating viewpoints, court politics, social norms, cultural protocols, magic, women‘s roles, Fairy society, and dragons. Liked how the struggle with heterosexuality in a society that won‘t acknowledge anything else was blended into the storyline.

Next pick from the book piles is this little beauty! I received it from a publicist late last year so it‘s probably time I got on with it...

Welp, I did actually end up rolling a die! There were too many options on my wish list. Say hello to lucky number 4!

#audible #audiblelawsuit

Hello, I am still alive! And I have a considerable reading list. Always. Perhaps I will have things to say about it eventually.

Thank you @Shadowfat for all my goodies and books and the book looks interesting for #SFMBC @Avanders

This was enjoyable, if a bit more predictable than I would have liked. I wish I had reread the previous book after all. Still, quite entertaining, and I'll look forward to when more books in the series come out.

And now on to something better! It's been a while since I read the first one so I hope I don't have to remember it too well.

I loved the first book set in this world, but remember very little of it. This one started off a bit slowly for me, but now I'm fully feeling it!

This was such a fun read, definitely a strong follow up to Sorcerer to the Crown. I really liked Muna and Henrietta, and I also loved the bond between Muna and Sakti. I appreciate that the author gives us a fresh take on the fairy world too, because that‘s not easy to do these days. And some of the reveals were pretty fucking awesome. There was one little side arc that felt a little unnecessary but otherwise this was a great read. 4/5 ⭐️

“I wish I could explain to you the iniquity that lives in the heart of mortal man, but I confess it is beyond my own understanding.”

“They are a sanguinary people, the English,” the witch had said. “They are not content with quarreling with their neighbors, but must needs sail over the seas to trouble us too!”

[British History 101 😜]

“I shall make disgusting eating, I warn you!” shouted Sakti, struggling. “I have a bad disposition and everyone knows that turns mortal flesh rancid!”

[Me, if I ever come across a wild animal.]

I know Sorcerer to the Crown wasn‘t everyone‘s cup of tea, but I loved it. However, since I read it a while ago and admittedly don‘t remember much of the details, I also like that this is labeled as a “standalone sequel” so hopefully that won‘t matter 😆 #nowreading

This sequel to Sorcerer to the Crown is a delightful return to Regency London and our favorite characters all make appearances, but as supporting players! I found the new MC Muna quite engaging and her storyline involving mystery & magic, and a trip thru/to Faery, complimented and contrasted nicely with the world of Crown—with new plot twists layered on top. It is also self-contained so while there will be a book 3, this is nicely wrapped up.

#book3 finished during #24in48 and just over 21 hours down. Let's finish this thing!

Starting my second audiobook for #24in48

I had a backlog of reviews, so I decided to do an omnibus post with 5 short reviews. Curiously, each book disappointed me b/c I came in with expectations too high. Reviews of The Dragon Waiting by John Ford, Vita Nostra by the Dyachenkos, Monster Hunter Int‘l by Larry Correia, Raid by K.S. Merbeth & The True Queen by Zen Cho here - https://everydayshouldbetuesday.wordpress.com/2019/06/25/short-review-roundup-fa...

“ ‘I should like it of all things,‘ said Henrietta.”
Absolutely masterful. Loved use of old characters. I missed Prunella so much I was worried. I wasn‘t going to have enough of the have enough of the characters from the first book, but Muna so stole my heart, I ended up having just enough of them. 5 out of 5 on GR. A perfect sequel.

I truly enjoyed this one, which goes beyond the cloistered world of English magic (and the sexist, racist, colonialist projects therein) to link a Fairy, England, and Janda Baik in a complex tale of a coup, something like a horcrux construction, talking portraits, and much more. ⬇️⬇️ #fantasy

And another recent Kobo acquisition that I had preordered and am dying to read. (Honestly, I began. But I need to put it off so I can read print books *before* I hop the plane to the World Cup! Print books at home, ebooks while traveling ... ) #fantasy

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first book -- Muna is a bit flat for that, compared to Prunella and Zacharias -- but I did greatly enjoy checking back in on the world. The f/f subplot kiiiinda worked for me, but felt like it was missing some of the buildup.

Mostly I just love that Damerell and Rollo are basically married.

Life is being a bit bad at the moment in some ways, and predictably I am trying to fix it with new books...

It does help!

Best of Both Worlds! I thought I remembered the wait for part 2, but looking at air dates that's basically impossible! Maybe I'm just remembering the wait between reruns, filtered through an anxious child brain. Anyway, the end of The True Queen (sort of surprisingly) becomes a book about getting the best of both worlds, just in a fantasy setting.
#startreksummermay

I adored this book! It has all the things that made the first book wonderful, while still being very much it‘s own book! Charming characters and perfect amounts of drama and intrigue!

On the one hand the story feels kind of small in spite of the stakes? But on the other hand it is a flat out delight to read. A delight!

I've finished; it was just such an enchanting, genuinely fun fairy tale. I grew up inhaling Diana Wynne Jones and Patricia C. Wrede books, and nothing I've read in ages has reminded me so firmly of those as this book did. 10/10, would happily give to all of my fantasy-inclined loved ones.

I've decided to get back to reading like my soul demands of me, so hello everyone! Today's book is this glorious book, which I'm enjoying immensely. I'm only about a third through, but so far I adore it as much as the first one.

Booooooo, I don't want to go to work tomorrow I just want to read the magic book, boooooooooo

Currently pondering the age old question, do I reread or just plunge straight into book two? 🤔 (I usually plunge straight in but it‘s been a couple of years between publication)

AAAHHHHH so glad this book is finally here!! I loved it, so much, but now I want a book about Henrietta. This is my book I think should be a movie for the #popsugarreadingchallenge2019 because I think the whole series should be a movie (or a tv show)!!

It finally came! I splurged to match my British hardcover of the first book. (The first US cover was awful.)

Oh, Prunella, I‘ve missed you.

Whee! Some weeks back I found out I had won one of the books in Zen Cho‘s giveaway and it just arrived! This just made a lousy day so much better!

So after rejecting my NetGalley request, and after the release date, Ace sends me an #ARC. 🤔
(Don‘t get me wrong—I‘m still excited.)

A jug of wine*, a book of verse**, and thou

*iced tea
**YA fantasy?

#TheTrueQueen is out today and I‘m so excited to finally read it!!

#MarchMadness part 3! I realized this morning that I should reread Sorcerer to the Crown, but I'm not sure where it has ended up in my move back to FL. (Note, this move was 2.5 years ago. I am On Top of Things, as always.)

The one on the left is the UK cover. The right is the US cover. Which one do you like more?

This finally comes out next week! I know I put it on hold somewhere...
#royalty #literaryluck

What a delightful sequel to Sorcerer to the Crown, featuring some familiar and some new characters. I think this one is a little less streamlined than its predecessor, but I found the main character more relatable. Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC and look for this starting March 12!