Welcome to Litsy!

My #bookspin list is ready for reading! I had big plans to add a few fantasy novels ...then I realized I had 10(!) digital holds already (the kindle has been returned to airplane mode). Then there's the literal pile of books I've accumulated from raiding friendly bookshelves. It's almost overwhelming (but in a good way) to have so many choices.

@thearomaofbooks

In a way this felt a lot like Red Rising. That's not a bad thing. Pretty good read, would recommend.

👇🏻📚 This is a tropey book but aren‘t most fantasy books?

I‘ve found that I need to love a character, identify with one, even just love to hate one. The MC (Tao) is just an A-hole on a destructive mission of vengeance. SO angry! 😫

BUT it‘s a debut author & maybe it‘s a set up to a series I‘ll love?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👇🏻

This is very much a it's not you it's me DNF. I've just moved away from fantasy books which mainly focus on War etc. But I can see fans of military fantasy like The Poppy War really enjoy this work. The writing, world building is all very high standard and original. I just prefer twisty political fantasy or cozy community building fantasy.

Not sure what could be more inspiring than this for reading or writing.
#amreading #amwriting

Tau, the main protagonist is not a typical hero which was refreshing. Well, he's not a hero at all. He goes from being a scared, utterly selfish, acting-before-thinking youth to being utterly bonkers, selfish and acting-before-thinking person. I honestly couldn't find a reason why this book is so hyped up. It is nit bad, the fight scenes are good, the book reads fast but it's not outstanding.

3.5🌟 This was a fast-paced, action-packed novel that I found overall enjoyable. It is chock-full of battles and bloodshed with descriptions designed to create visceral reactions. At times, Tau can be frustrating and downright annoying with his stubbornness and brashness, but this can be forgiven because of the nature of the society. He really is little more than a teenager thrust into a role of adulthood. 👇

Rainy, cool day ✔
Coffee in my favorite mug ✔
Good books ✔

THE RAGE OF DRAGONS is classic single-POV epic fantasy with an important change: it centres Black characters who inhabit a pseudo-African world. It‘s gonna mean a hell of a lot to readers eager to see themselves represented in the genre.

While I‘m always glad to find fantasy that‘s not pseudo-medieval-European, I‘m afraid the overall package didn‘t grab me because Winter leans into narrative tropes that no longer excite me. ⬇️

I hate to say it, but I think I‘m on my way to another bail. I‘m interested in the worldbuilding, especially the stuff with Isihogo, but I‘m closing in on page 300 and I still find the story heavily focused on fight scenes over character development. Said story is way too familiar, too; if you‘ve read much epic fantasy or space opera, you know it already. I hope Winter‘ll shake things up soon, but this far in I won‘t count on it.

I‘m about 200 pages into THE RAGE OF DRAGONS after breakfast. On the one hand, I‘ve read this story before, and I think Winter tends to centre action at the expense of other narrative elements. At the same time, though, it feels like this‘s building into a pretty good example of the boy-gets-revenge-via-military-academy setup, and it‘s picked up some of those missing elements as Tau gets further into his training. We‘ll see how it comes out.

#weeklyforecast time!

I‘m gonna start the week with THE RAGE OF DRAGONS. I requested it because it was on the Canada Reads longlist, but other than that recommendation it‘s an unknown quantity.

After that, it‘s BETTER THAN PEOPLE. I‘ve accepted fewer ARCs this year, but I couldn‘t resist Parrish‘s latest. She‘s quickly become a fave. Plus, DOGS!

And if there‘s time, I‘ll dive into ORACLE.

Everyone would have been raving about the whole different world in which the story takes place. That was one of the contributing factors for me liking it. I would sum up my review of the book by saying that once I picked up the book, I did not put it down until I was finished. Literally. It‘s definitely a rage.

Current armchair situation. It‘s gloomy here in #RVA and I wish I could just burrow and read.

Alas, the school bus will be here any moment...

This is so cool! Books come to life with Google Lens!

From Orbit Books US Publisher‘s FB:
“Orbit is thrilled to introduce AR for some of our #orbit19 titles! Grab a copy of an #orbit19 book off your shelf and experience the magic yourself.”
“Available on:
Android devices via the Google Lens app
iPhone via the Google app”

Click on the link to see how it comes to life.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/121563204630823/posts/2399116996875421?sfns=mo

I was let down by the end of the dragon show, but there is more than enough dragon awesomeness in these 2019 releases to tip the scales. (Sorry not sorry.) Have you read any of them? 🐉🔮🔥

We're starting a new book tonight. #Ash #CatsOfLitsy #ARC