Welcome to Litsy!

A book and a matcha latte is a winning combination. 10/10. Highly recommend.

📕🍵

Happiest of Saturdays to you all!

Day 5 #NewToYouAuthor #AboutABook
Confession time… I bought these books because of the beautiful sprayed edges. The story does sound interesting though!😅

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I always love Levenseller‘s books - they are nonstop action, romance, and fun.
In any other context, I would never like Alessandra or the Shadow King, but somehow, she wins me over to them both.
I partially listened to the audiobook & didn‘t care for the narrator at all, so I‘d recommend reading this one, not listening.
Great twists, amazing fashion, interesting characters - excited for book 2 that comes out tomorrow!

“They‘ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart.”

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I didn't think I would find a book to help me get over my Prison Healer book hangover so this was such a pleasant surprise. I loved that Allesandra was a bit of a villain. It was so fun to watch her plotting against the Shadow King. I do wish the king's magic and world had been a bit more fleshed out but overall a fantastic, fast-paced fantasy romance featuring a main character who was a breath of fresh air.

The first half of the book is entertaining & it has a killer opening line - it really sets up Alessandra's character as a woman who is not afraid to have ambition & who has broken all society's rules by taking lovers before marriage. As for the second half, well let's just say I've not been this disappointed since I read Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. (Continued)

I had a difficult time finding fantasy books that were not 500 pages 🤣 #LMPBC Have any of you read any of these? Any one of then stand out more than others? Excited for a new round with you all! @johanna414 @EclecticBookLover @Readergrrl

Honestly amazing, I'd totally recommend but its definitely a book that you either love or hate.

Holy cow! Did I enjoy this book? YES! Alessandra was the perfect mix of independent, conniving, and vulnerable. The Shadow King is broody, withdrawn, and equally as vulnerable. I will definitely need to get Daughter Of The Pirate King and Daughter Of The Siren Queen by the same author.

I cannot express how excited I am to start this book tomorrow. I made a reading journal for the first time and have a whole list sorted for June reading.

Really loved this one great storyline and characters and for someone that always figures out who the villains are one was hidden until@the end in the so great book 📖🤗

#currentlyreading

Book 35
"They‘ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart.
And they never will."
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Now this was devilishly fun. 😈

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is delicious (which I do not believe I have ever used that word to describe a book before, but once I thought of it, I couldn‘t think of anything else because it‘s so true).
The fashion, the drama, the tension, it all combines to create a really fun, fast escape into Levenseller‘s world. It was a treat to read.

I liked this a lot more than I expected to. I found the romance sweet and the main character's scheming entertaining. Probably around a 3 ⭐

“They‘ve never found the body of the first and only boy to break my heart. And they never will.”
That‘s literally the first sentence of the book.
Strong female lead who was better than all the men at absolutely everything.
Easy read. Good book for people who are just getting into fantasy books.

Romance. Murder. Scheming. This book has it all.

This book was a cartoon version of a Slytherin romance — the discount version of The Cruel Prince, if we‘re being honest. The characters were just awful, & spent 90% of their time talking about colonizing other kingdoms & squashing the poor. BLECH. Making Slytherin characters unrepentant colonizers is SUCH an unimaginative choice. Thankfully, there are other books out there that do such characters much more justice. ★★☆☆☆.

Currently Reading - this is my first YA Fantasy book of the year that isn't a reread. Been looking forward to this since it came out.. #yalit #yafantasy #yabooks #yabookstagram #yafantasybooks #bookishmerch #books #bookstafam #Bookstagram #bookmarks #cozyreads #bookblog #bookaddict #bookish #booklove #bookobsessed #bookobsessedgirl

Really wavering between a so-so and pick for this one. I think the author accomplished what she set out to do and created a romance between two pretty selfish characters. The tension was pretty good until about half way through when the characters seemed to shift pretty dramatically into lovey, swooning “safe” people. I will have to see when the next one comes out if I feel like giving it a try.

This was fun--different in that you have a conniving anti-hero to root for. Overall, I really was engrossed in the book, but I found some of the world building to be problematic. The guns didn't mesh with the swords.

This was a total impulse read, which I am so grateful for because it was awesome! Loved Alessandra and her ambition, and honestly her cold-blooded, murderous ways. Loved it!

I read quite a few negative reviews about this book, saying it wasn‘t interesting or fast paced enough. To that I say, but the slow burn was worth it! Ughh I love a good slow burn romance so much and this one didn‘t disappoint. The story was interesting enough that I truly didn‘t want to put it down even when I had to feed my 2 month old!

Fantastic. A Slytherin love story for sure. I adored the Shadow King and the entire story was gripping from the get go. Finished in a day.

"They've never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The first line pulled me in, but the rest captivated me. I cannot believe how much I loved this book. Literally the best book I've read this year. More people need to be talking about this. I didn't want it to end.

Found this book through a post on the #MBC Facebook page regarding best opening lines. Excited to start!

A predictable, but fun read. I do not think this is Levenseller's best novel, but it was an enjoyable story that I didn't have to think about. With teaching and grad. school now in full swing, it was nice to just enjoy.

I devoured this book in a day. How I loved the cunning, strong, determined villian as the lead. The MC's voice was unlike any I have read in YA. I got the love story for Slytherin's as the praise on the back stated. Also some Caraval style and an evil Cinderella vibe. So entertaining and fun!

Found this this morning, so I thought I'd join in! I love a Bingo challenge.

#TBRCrewBingo #TBRCrew @AkashaVampie

Alessandra has a plan. Woo The Shadow King. Marry him. Kill him and take his kingdom for herself. She doesn‘t plan to fall in love with him herself and want to protect him from assassins. This book was so good! You don‘t often get to see the villains love story but here it is🖤😈 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Shadows Between Us” is best described as a wicked and Slytherin-style fantasy romance. In my opinion, Alessandra starts off as a highly unlikeable character, but gradually changes her arc and improves in tolerability. Despite having dark characters, the story contains a sweet and slow-burn romance. Overall, this was a quick and fast-paced read that has you hooked from the initial pages and ends with a surprising plot twist.

There is a blogging meme called Top Ten Tuesday this week which asked for the best opening lines of books. This book was mentioned several times. On the basis of the opening line I now want to read it.

The line is

They‘ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart.

BOOK TAGS⇣
⤏ A SWEET ROMANCE
⤏ FANTASY THAT'S MORE WICKED FUN THAN INTRICATELY WOVEN
⤏ DELICIOUSLY DARKISH CHARACTERS
⤏ COURTLY-ISH INTRIGUE
⤏ LAUGH OUT LOUD MOMENTS
You could say that this has little to no world-building, and you'd be right...but honestly, I didn't really need it. I thought this was fun, quick, and just what I needed at the time.
https://leahsbookishobsession2.blogspot.com/2020/05/audiobook-review-shadows-bet...

#NutsInMay

24. Nevernight (#bbrc #teenangst #notappropriateformiddlegrade) 3.5⭐️
25. A Court of Thorns and Roses (reread; #seriesstarter) 4.5⭐️
26. The Shadows Between Us (#recommendedbyalitten) 4.5⭐️
27. A Court of Mist and Fury 4.5⭐️

This book was entertaining enough for me to keep reading but had so many problems throughout. I don‘t think I ever ended up liking the main character and everything in the books was just so easy. Problems arose with easy fixes and ~mysteries~ were actually super predictable. The story itself had a lot of potential it just needed more work to make it into something great.

Oh, I really, really liked Alessandra at first. She was so ruthless and cool. And then suddenly I'm in the middle of a modern, bloodier version of a Jane Austen novel. Because that's basically what this book is about.

If that's your cup of tea - go ahead! But I had to suffer quite a lot...

Still, there were some good scenes and an ok ending. But the start was so good...!

I finished my reread of ACOWAR, reread Daughter of the Pirate King and started my reread of The Shadows Between Us. Tricia Levenseller is coming to our group for a virtual chat and immmmmmmm so excited!

Sunday afternoon reading time with a great book about the Vikings (not tagged book, that one's my audio book) and a vanilly Iced Coffee Oreo smoothie 😋

For once I have no words for this review...
I LOVED THIS BOOK AND CANNOT RECCOMEND IT ENOUGH!
😍 Tricia Levenseller you've done it again!

#YA #Romance #Slytherin #SlowBurn #myhearthurts #Fantasy #PrettyCover

I'm trash for this authors content plus I've heard nothing but amazing things about this title

Great start with a Vampire Diaries quote!

Nothing like listening to a gothic classical playlist while reading this dark delicious novel; I can feel the Slytherin vibes and I am HERE for it🖤🐍 #currentread #fairyloot #tbr

I feel the need to start a new book... even though I've got 3 on the go😂 One can never read enough books 📖📚
#Biblophile #newbook #bookaholic #oops

It was ok. Romance was so-so. Allesandra was an interesting MC and definitely slytherin. But I just didn‘t really think this was amazing. If not for the shadow powers the king has, this wouldn‘t be fantasy at all.

Just started today. Pretty cover. Story is good so far.

Off to a great start 😂 I'm intrigued

#currentlyreading

This was so, so good, I loved Alessandra and how progressive she was, the writing was witty and hilarious and I actually enjoyed the romance. However if I had one gripe it's that the ending felt rushed, and I was left feeling like... That's it? This is a standalone but would be better made into a series.

I love that tricia levenseller added a quote from the vampire diaries for this book!!! Im so excited to read it.

Up next! A #ya fantasy I've been looking forward to reading! #arc