Last Week I Read:
Currently Reading:
Another mundane week. Nothing too exciting this time around. Although, the B&N sale did take up quite a bit of time for me those first two days! Lol. More so the first day with a few follow-ups the next day! I ordered way too much, but I usually ordered them in groups of one or two so I can easily cancel things if I change my mind or a signing pops up. But yeah. Books were ordered. Gift cards were used up. It was a good set of days. Lol. But other than that there was no other excitement this week. I have one more week of nothingness then I finally get to some book signings!! I didn't have any planned for March sadly, but April has FOUR that I plan to attend!
Anyway, here's what I got this week:
AND THEN...I found out I was a winner in the 2025 Discussion Challenge! I won a book of choice which was a conundrum for me since I had just done so much preordering! Lol. And ironically I had just placed an order on the Zon since they had a B2G1 deal for books...those should arrive next week and I'll share then!
But anyway I was scouring my wishlist and then settled on this one because it sounded spooky good:
This week's topic is: What’s your favorite bookish scent, and why does it appeal to you? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)
MY ANSWER: I do love the smell of the paper pages. But like from the actual book. Not in candle format as those can never really catch the right notes, I feel like. Which yes, I totally understand the true fragrance cannot be captured exactly. But when I smell the crisp pages of a new book, that's the smell of adventure, love, and happiness!
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes us into a dangerous and exhilarating world where a deadly, beautiful archangel and his once-mortal consort are caught in a fury of twisted darkness…
One of the most vicious archangels in the world has disappeared. No one knows if Lijuan is dead or has chosen to Sleep the long sleep of an immortal. But with her lands falling into chaos under a rising tide of vampiric bloodlust, a mysterious and ancient order of angels known as the Luminata calls the entire Cadre together to discuss the fate of her territory.
Accompanying her archangelic lover Raphael to the Luminata compound, guild hunter-turned-angel Elena senses that all is not as it seems. Secrets echo from within the stone walls of the compound, and the deeper Elena goes, the uglier the darkness. But neither Raphael nor Elena is ready for the brutal truths hidden within—truths that will change everything Elena thinks she knows about who she is…
Nothing will ever be the same again.
So apparently when you get so far behind in a series, you even forget to add books to your TBR pile on Goodreads! Lol. Despite Nalini Singh's Archangel's Heart releasing in October of 2016, I didn't notate it on Goodreads until October of 2017...likely when that next book was coming out! Lol. Needless to say that whenever I actually got this book, I still need to read it! I am soo behind in this series but I make it a point to always buy them as they release as trying to track down MM PB later on after their print run is INSANELY hard! And then the ebooks cost the exact same so I'd rather have that physical copy! Lol. But this was a fun Urban Fantasy series that I hope to get back to one of these days!
The gods love to toy with us mere mortals. And every hundred years, we let them…
I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus.
Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won’t notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus’ patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god.
The worst god. Hades.
For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead.
So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me—a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders—as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his?
I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky?
Because Hades is playing by his own rules…and Death will win at any cost.
I finally picked up Abigail Owen's The Games Gods Play, ready for a fresh new take on the Hades/Persephone myth and that is exactly what I got! Owen takes a new twist on Greek mythology with this one and with its modern-day setting and deadly game challenge, this is a read that is sure to keep you entertained among its massive page size!
Lyra was cursed the day she was born by Zeus to be unlovable, for she dared to be born in his temple. Which, from what we know of the gods in all the myths, this tracks! So Lyra's parents gave her over to the Order of Thieves to live and that's where she was raised.
Then she has a chance encounter with Hades, the god of the underworld and perhaps the least liked god of all and ends up wrapped in his clutches to play a role in the Crucible. This is a set of twelve challenges that are played in order to determine to who will be the next King of the Gods. Hades has never participated before but is making an exception this year. Each of the gods chooses a mortal who will represent them and do the actual games and challenges. Should they win, their patron god is the next ruler and they will be granted a boon, among other glories.
Lyra is more determined to just survive the challenges and even tries to help her fellow competitors along the way, hoping that they might return the favor somewhere down the line. What you might expect to happen, happens. There are challengers who want nothing to do with Lyra's help, there are those who indifferent, and then of course, there's the one who believes her and will work alongside her.
The challenges are ruthless and dangerous and it's a shock that any human is meant to survive them. I mean when you think about it, it is silly. The gods have to choose the best human they can find to be their "rep" but they are still only human. Yes, the humans are gifted the occasional advantage and there are betrayals and cheats and secrets galore. With 500+ pages, a lot has to happen!
And then of course, we get to the heated chemistry brewing between Lyra and Hades. But of course, the big question is: where is Persephone, Hades' wife? We do get an explanation of where she is eventually, but even I was having my doubts about the whole story. Mainly because, I know this is a series, so my mind was already developing the craziest theories possible! Only time will tell if any of those crazy theories come to fruition though!
I will admit that this one was a bit of a beast to get through. It's over 500 pages, but luckily, the pacing was pretty fast and some of the chapters were pretty short, so that made for easier reading at times. With twelve challenges set before the champions, that too would take time to get through. Some were done with detail and others were not as detailed, but not super short either. I felt like the balance was right when it came to those. Then when there was the moments between challenges, those were relatively balanced as well.
The ending was pretty shocking though! I guess I hadn't developed too many theories towards that regard because I was taken aback by most of it! It was a stunning ending for sure and the cliffhanger was also pretty unexpected. The actual cliffhanger, not that there was a cliffhanger! Lol. Luckily, I am diving into the next book asap!
The Games Gods Play was an edgy and action packed take on the Greek pantheon! I enjoyed the characters and the pacing was spot on! This is definitely a series to sink your teeth into!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
An unforgettable YA murder mystery set in an escape-room themed game show, by Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles, and Tamara Moss, rising star and acclaimed author of Lintang series.
It’s all fun and games until someone ends up dead.
Six months ago, season four of The Escape Game ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set.
Now season five is underway, and new contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show's trickiest escape rooms. There's Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz; Beck, the wannabe game master, and . . . Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister’s murder. Or so everyone believes.
But Sierra’s not just here to win. She’s here for justice.
When the contestants begin uncovering clues that hint at the identity of Alicia’s true killer, it becomes clear that the stakes aren’t high in this competition, they’re deadly. If these teens want to win—and survive—the game, they must solve the biggest mystery of who killed Alicia Angelos?
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer and rising star Tamara Moss comes a twisty thrill-ride, filled with sabotage, betrayal, and puzzles to die for.
If there's one kind of duology I will always make sure I wait and binge, it's a thriller! Never fails that the first book ends on a killer cliffhanger! Lol.
TITLE: The Escape Game
AUTHORS: Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss
PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Thriller
RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2026
Ninth House meets The Hazel Wood in this spellbinding conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Drowned Gods Trilogy, a gorgeous dark academia fantasy following a teen mage and her friends on their desperate quest through worlds and time!
Fate cannot be broken—not even by the gods who serve it.
Emory refuses to lose Romie again. Her friend’s fate hangs in the balance as the monstrous Clover plans to use her as a sacrifice to steal power from the deity Atheia—and make himself into a proper god. To stop Clover, Emory needs the help of Atheia’s dark counterpart, Sidraeus. Yet this enigmatic deity cannot be trusted, and if Emory is to ally with him, she must invoke an ancient magic to keep him tethered to her side.
Meanwhile, in the divine workshop of the god of balance, Baz learns he has a role to play in the coming fight to save the crumbling worlds and their weakening magics. Yet all he can think of is Kai and the gruesome fate that awaits him at Clover’s side—a fate, the god tells him, that is beyond even his reach. But Baz is determined to save Kai, even if he has to rewrite time itself.
As chaos reigns and the tides of a corrupted magic threaten to consume all, Emory and Baz must contend with mercurial gods, vengeful deities, and those hell-bent on eradicating Eclipse magic to save the people they love—and write an ending to their stories that defies fate itself.
I still need to start this series but the last few years, I feel like I've been in my event mode reading! Lol. So yeah, hopefully I will be able to read this one sometimes soonish!
TITLE: Infinite Shores
AUTHOR: Pascale Lacelle
PUBLISHER: Margaret K. McElderry Books
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2026
It should be no surprise that I still need to read the first book of this series! Lol. I did enjoy this OG series far more than I initially thought I would, so I am excited to return to it!
TITLE: Release Me
AUTHOR: Tahereh Mafi
PUBLISHER: Storytide
GENRE: YA Dystopian
RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2026
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker.
Here are the rules:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.
"Warmth coalesces inside my belly, which is turned squishier by the second. I should not be squishy for the god of death, no matter how much it sounds like he cares. That's a terrible idea." p 162
TITLE: The Games Gods Play
AUTHOR: Abigail Owen
PUBLISHER: Red Tower Books
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: September 3, 2024
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Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Can't Wait Wednesday #240
Books from the Backlog #178
Book Blogger Hop #403
Stacking the Shelves--A VERY Special Delivery!
Another quiet week on the home-front. Nothing exciting planned for March sadly but I've got 4 signings lined up for April so that will be fun! I caught a slight cold at the beginning of the week that made the middle of the week a bear, but I was feeling better by Friday but still not 100%. But even 80% is better than a low 30%, lol. Not too many new books this week which is always okay, but I did FINALLY get my Fairy Loot Caraval set! I can't tell you the stress I was having when I saw people getting theirs weeks ago and my tracking still said: label has been created.
Here's what I got:
This week's question is: If you could write the sequel to a classic book, which one would it be? What new characters or plot twists would you bring in? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)
MY ANSWER: Ooh interesting. I'm not much of a classics reader. I would automatically say give me a sequel to Dracula, but we kind of did have one titled Dracula the Un-Dead that was cowritten by Bram's great grandson, Dacre! So that was pretty cool! I guess I would also say a sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo. What could happen is hard to say since the Count got his revenge. Perhaps one of those evil men's descendants tries to get revenge on the Count and he'll have to duke it out again. It's been eons since I read that tome, so my memory is fuzzy on the details, but a second round of that might be entertaining...granted maybe like at 1/3 of the length instead of the 1000+ page count! Lol.
