en-US Fri, 02 May 2025 01:52:40 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 29356046 Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks, and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa’s power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm’s length�� everyone, that is, but Tessa.

As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world�� and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.]]> 486 Cassandra Clare 1406365262 maria 0 4.22 2010
author: Cassandra Clare
name: maria
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/16
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves: books-to-reread, spring, may, currently-reading
review:
“One must always be careful with books and what is inside them for words have the power to change us.�� ☕️
]]> 78292413 In this beautifully dark and enthralling YA, four sisters with unusual talents investigate a mysterious disappearance in their secluded Appalachian town. For fans of House of Hollow and Wilder Girls!

In rural Caball Hollow, surrounded by the vast National Forest, the James women serve up more than fried green tomatoes at the Harvest Moon diner, where the family recipes are not the only secrets.

Like her sisters, Linden was born with an unusual ability. She can taste what others are feeling, but this so-called gift soured her relationship with the vexingly attractive Cole Spencer one fateful night a year ago . . . A night when Linden vanished into the depths of the Forest and returned with no memories of what happened, just a litany of questions--and a haze of nightmares that suggest there's more to her story than simply getting lost.

Now, during the hottest summer on record, another girl in town is gone, and the similarities to last year's events are striking. Except, this time the missing girl doesn't make it home, and when her body is discovered, the scene unmistakably spells murder.

As tempers boil over, Linden enlists the help of her sisters to find what's hiding in the forest . . . before it finds her. But as she starts digging for truth--about the Moth-Winged Man rumored to haunt the Hollow, about her bitter rift with Cole, and even about her family--she must question if some secrets are best left buried.]]> 384 Kate Pearsall 0593531027 maria 0 to-read, witchy-books 4.01 2023
author: Kate Pearsall
name: maria
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/01
shelves: to-read, witchy-books
review:

]]> 217387935 Naomi Novik's Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by instant national and international bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

"Look at you, eating magic like you're one of us."

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.

Walden is good at her job―no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from―is herself.]]> 432 Emily Tesh 1250835011 maria 0 arcs, may 4.20 2025
author: Emily Tesh
name: maria
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at: 2025/05/01
date added: 2025/05/01
shelves: arcs, may
review:
DNF @ 30% thank you NetGalley for the arc! I think this was genuinely well written and I loved that our protagonist was older but I wasn’t really connected to any of the characters and I wish we’d gotten more of the school setting.
]]> 223097553 ����New York Times��bestselling series!

The highly anticipated fourth novel in the Woven Kingdom romantasy series, brimming with fiery romance, spectacular magic, and breathtaking secrets, from Tahereh Mafi, the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, and Sabaa Tahir.

At long last, the wedding day has arrived.

The Jinn queen and the enigmatic ruler of Tulan are to be married in a magical, enchanted ceremony—but��Cyrus, tethered by a blood oath to his bride-to-be, can find nothing to celebrate in this union. He’s falling ever more deeply in love with the one person oathbound to kill him.

Sworn to an ancient, unbreakable magic, Alizeh can only fulfill the prophecy to free her people by ensuring Cyrus dies by her own hand. And Cyrus is forced to await his end all while Prince Kamran inches closer, ready to take his place by Alizeh’s side.��

The countdown to murder coils tensions ever tighter, but the historic wedding has already drawn deadly attention. To prepare for war and protect her people, Alizeh must finally discover her magic—and outrun the enemies trying to stop her.

Alizeh and Cyrus, along with Kamran and their friends from Ardunia, must flee on dragon-back to begin the perilous journey into the legendary mountains of Arya, where a firestorm of revelations, magical discoveries, and fresh allies awaits them. Every allegiance will be tested, every darkness uncovered, and when the shattering secrets of the Tulanian king are finally revealed . . .

Nothing, and no one, will be the same.

Desperate confessions, impossible decisions, unfathomable magical power—and a love so devastating it rewrites destinies��Every Spiral of Fate is the shimmering, breathtaking fourth volume in a saga that continues to transcend expectations.]]> 512 Tahereh Mafi 0063315343 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.83 2025
author: Tahereh Mafi
name: maria
average rating: 4.83
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
review:

]]> 150247395
Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.]]> 410 Robert Jackson Bennett 1984820702 maria 0 to-read 4.28 2024
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: maria
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217245656
In Whetherwhy, everyone has magic inside them �� grown from the changing seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. But a rare few are people born with magic in their bones, who can wield all four seasons of magic.

When Juniper discovers she is an Enchanter, she must leave behind everything she knows to begin studying at the Thistledown Academy of Enchantment. Unwilling to be left behind, her twin brother, Rafferty, decides to follow her to the capital city of Stormgrove and takes up an apprenticeship at a nearby bookbinder.

As Juniper makes new friends and learns how to wield enchantment, Rafferty becomes involved with a mysterious secret society that meet after dark. Monsters are creeping out of the shadows and dangers lurk in unexpected places. Amid night markets and magic lessons, they both realise there is more to enchantment �� and life in Whetherwhy �� than they could ever have imagined.]]> 304 Anna James 0593691903 maria 0 to-read, may 4.32
author: Anna James
name: maria
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read, may
review:

]]> 29356064
THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy]]> 569 Cassandra Clare 1406365289 maria 0 to-read, spring, may 4.59 2013
author: Cassandra Clare
name: maria
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read, spring, may
review:

]]> 35904585 500 Cassandra Clare maria 0 spring, may 4.43 2011
author: Cassandra Clare
name: maria
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: spring, may
review:

]]> 213691721
All stories come to an end.

Effy learned that when she defeated the Fairy King. Even though she may never know exactly what happened at Hiraeth, she is free of her nightmares and is able to pen a thesis with Preston on the beloved national fairy tale Angharad. She has finally earned a spot at the literature college, making her the first woman in history to enroll.

But some dreams are dangerous, especially when they come true. The entire university—and soon the entire nation—is waiting for her to fail. With the Fairy King defeated and Myrddin’s legacy exposed, Effy can no longer escape into fantasy. Who is she without her stories?

With Effy under threat, Preston is surprised to discover a rage simmering inside him, ringing in his ears like bells. He begins to dream of a palace under the sea, a world where he is king—visions that start to follow him even in waking.

As the war between Llyr and Argant explodes, Effy and Preston find themselves caught in the crossfire: Effy losing her dreams and Preston losing himself in his.

Are dreams ever truly just dreams?]]> 384 Ava Reid 1804953814 maria 0 4.26 2025
author: Ava Reid
name: maria
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases, arcs, april, spring, may
review:

]]> 75302266 Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.

But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.]]> 378 Ava Reid 0063211505 maria 5
Merged review:

Girlhood is treacherous and beautiful and heartbreaking, it is never being believed and finding comfort in the bows in your hair it is loving and dreaming, it is survival and drowning. Perhaps I can never put it into words but today it is simply enough that Ava Reid has.]]> 3.73 2023
author: Ava Reid
name: maria
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/17
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: favorites, books-to-reread, infinity-star-reads, april, may
review:
Girlhood is treacherous and beautiful and heartbreaking, it is never being believed and finding comfort in the bows in your hair it is loving and dreaming, it is survival and drowning. Perhaps I can never put it into words but today it is simply enough that Ava Reid has.

Merged review:

Girlhood is treacherous and beautiful and heartbreaking, it is never being believed and finding comfort in the bows in your hair it is loving and dreaming, it is survival and drowning. Perhaps I can never put it into words but today it is simply enough that Ava Reid has.
]]> 56980357 The Last Magician meets The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy in this atmospheric historical fantasy following a young woman who discovers she has magical powers and is thrust into a battle between witches and wizards.

In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.

Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.

Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?]]> 442 Sasha Peyton Smith 1534454381 maria 0 to-read, dark-academia, may 3.61 2021
author: Sasha Peyton Smith
name: maria
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read, dark-academia, may
review:

]]> 56978100
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.

Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.

But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…]]> 325 Axie Oh 1250780861 maria 0 to-read, may 4.10 2022
author: Axie Oh
name: maria
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read, may
review:

]]> 218568749 Spilling the tea has never been so cozy��

In the quaint town of Adenashire, Doli Butterbuckle, a people-pleasing sunshine dwarf, is content with her simple tea magic and circle of friends. It’s true she’s never quite lived up to family expectations, but life is just fine...until her parents arrive with an inherited dragon egg and then a charming gargoyle harboring a secret strolls into her life.

As Doli grapples with her newfound responsibility and discovers a long hidden side of herself, she must face an overbearing family, a sinister plot, and a mischievous dragon that refuses to stay out of trouble.

But with the help of her loyal friends and newfound love, Doli embarks on a heartwarming adventure, revealing that embracing her true self is the most enchanting path of all.

Escape to Adenashire for a whimsical, cozy fantasy where every steaming cup of tea holds the promise of inner strength.]]> 304 J. Penner 1464243778 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 3.71 2024
author: J. Penner
name: maria
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
review:

]]> 56554281 Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people—Tahereh Mafi’s first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology.

To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight.

The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom—and the world.

Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Tomi Adeyemi, and Sabaa Tahir, this is the explosive first book in a new fantasy trilogy from the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-nominated author Tahereh Mafi.]]> 512 Tahereh Mafi 0062972464 maria 5 favorites 3.95 2022
author: Tahereh Mafi
name: maria
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/18
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: favorites
review:
alexa play castles crumbling by taylor swift ��
]]> 127823371 The highly anticipated third novel in the This Woven Kingdom series, full of explosive magic, searing romance, and heartbreaking betrayal, from the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sabaa Tahir, and Tomi Adeyemi.

As the long-lost heir to the Jinn throne, Alizeh has finally found her people—and she might’ve found her crown. Cyrus, the mercurial ruler of Tulan, has offered her his kingdom in a twisted exchange: one that would begin with their marriage and end with his murder.

Cyrus’s dark reputation precedes him; all the world knows of his blood-soaked past. Killing him should be easy—and accepting his offer might be the only way to fulfill her destiny and save her people. But the more Alizeh learns of him, the more she questions whether the terrible stories about him are true.

Ensnared by secrets, Cyrus has ached for Alizeh since she first appeared in his dreams many months ago. Now that he knows those visions were planted by the devil, he can hardly bear to look at her—much less endure her company. But despite their best efforts to despise each other, Alizeh and Cyrus are drawn together over and over with an all-consuming thirst that threatens to destroy them both.

Meanwhile, Prince Kamran has arrived in Tulan, ready to exact revenge. . . .

Layered with exquisite tension and heart-stopping romance, All This Twisted Glory is the explosive third book in the captivating, bestselling Woven Kingdom series.]]> 397 Tahereh Mafi 0062972502 maria 5 april, favorites 4.07 2024
author: Tahereh Mafi
name: maria
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: april, favorites
review:
“Always she hoped for peace, but never did she fear battle.��
]]> 24453082 Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.]]> 276 Elizabeth Gilbert 1594634718 maria 0 currently-reading 3.95 2015
author: Elizabeth Gilbert
name: maria
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 218695931 A debut fantasy romance filled with hope after heartbreak, secrets, and betrayal, as a dancer-turned-spy must decide how far she will go to secure her freedom

My protector is gone, revealed to be a monster. But I remind myself that I am not a damsel. I’m no princess bound within a tower.

I am a shadow.

Vasalie Moran was once a dancer in King Illian’s court, until he framed her for murder. Barely surviving her two years in the dungeons, she’s suddenly called to face her king. He offers her a deal: become his spy at the six-week royal Gathering and he’ll grant her freedom.

As Illian’s orders grow bloody and dangerous, forcing her to harm and betray those around her, Vasalie discovers that the monster she serves may be aligned with a bigger monster—one far closer to home. With her world threatened, Vasalie enlists the help of Illian’s brother and greatest adversary, the infamous King of the East.

As the rivalry between brothers escalates, with Vasalie caught in the middle, the horrifying truth of her past comes to light. If she wants to survive, she must decide who to trust, who to fight for, and how much of her soul she’s willing to damn in the process.]]> 448 Brittney Arena 0593973194 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.11 2025
author: Brittney Arena
name: maria
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
review:

]]> 54017820 Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother’s love―and she’s on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja’s otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back�� by stealing Gisele’s life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele’s sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja’s tail, she’ll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.]]> 512 Margaret Owen 1250191904 maria 0 to-read 4.24 2021
author: Margaret Owen
name: maria
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212808316 Brimming with magic and romance, a young fairy queen must form an unlikely alliance or risk an unspeakable danger destroying all she holds dear in this standalone YA novel from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft.

It’s been centuries since a warm-season fairy in Pixie Hollow has crossed into the Winter Woods, and while most fear the legends of monsters lurking in the frozen lands, Clarion, can’t help being intrigued by Winter’s stoic beauty. But under the watchful eyes of the current monarch and the court's seasonal ministers, Clarion has little time to dwell on daydreams while the days to her coronation dwindle away.

That is, until reports of a monster crossing from Winter into Spring make their way to the palace. Clarion sees defeating this threat as an opportunity to prove that she is worthy of her new role. But instead of finding a monster at the edge of Winter, she finds Milori, a young guardian of the Winter Woods. Together, they form an unlikely bond as they race to save their lands.

But as their alliance warms to something more, they will discover there is a reason a warm-season fairy and a winter fairy must not be together. And the cost could be just as deadly as the monsters that prowl the Winter Woods.

Discover the origin of the sweeping, star-crossed romance between the queen of Pixie Hollow and the lord of the Winter Woods.]]> 400 Allison Saft 1368098452 maria 0 to-read 4.25 2025
author: Allison Saft
name: maria
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218559595 Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.]]> 432 Emily Henry maria 3 spring 4.17 2025
author: Emily Henry
name: maria
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: spring
review:
i’m so so torn because there were so many parts of this i loved. i loved that Alice was a bubbly, caffeine-addicted journalist ☕️
]]> 62792284 A princess desperate to win back the prince who broke her heart follows him to his kingdom's prestigious military academy—and in doing so, falls in love, saves the realm, and continues to look fabulous in this delightful debut fantasy.

Domhnall and Clía are an ideal match—or so everyone says. They are prince and princess of neighboring kingdoms. An alliance the gods will smile on. Until Domhnall ruins everything by refusing to propose.

Heartbroken but determined, Clía makes the perfect plan: Follow Domhnall to Caisleán Cósta, the military academy he’s attending. Show she can protect her kingdom. Secure the betrothal. Sure, the castle has a brutal reputation. But how hard can dueling really be?

Warrior Ronan promised himself he’d never lose his focus. He fought and sacrificed for his place at Caisleán Cósta, and he has no time for blonde princesses who waltz intro arenas like they’re attending a ball. Even if she and her otter-like pet are…well, cute.

He doesn’t want to be intrigued by Clía. But her hunger to prove herself is something he understands. He tells himself there’s no harm training her. Even if his heart does race around her. Even if Domhnall is his best friend.

But as they say, love is a battlefield—and unfortunately for them all, a very real war is looming on the horizon. It’s a fight that will threaten all their kingdoms…and test all their hearts.��]]> 400 Cait Jacobs 0063321157 maria 0 to-read 3.96 2025
author: Cait Jacobs
name: maria
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 229004405
I, on the other hand, don’t–at all–have anything figured out.

Trust me, I didn’t think taking over my mom’s dream bed and breakfast in Copper Run Vermont was going to be easy. It should be a good place to heal after my divorce. But apparently my scones belong in the garbage with my small talk skills. As pointed out by none other than Cliff.

Cliff is inescapable. He knows exactly what people need–always. His charm, the way he wears flannel, and even his pastries, make not wanting to be friends with Cliff and his daughters pretty hard.

Friends? I can make friends. That’s safe.

Except I’m leaving in three months to pass the inn off to my little sister and get the promotion in Seattle I’ve been working towards.

So ask me why I’m thinking about kissing my hot neighbor.]]> 512 Julie Olivia maria 0 to-read 4.44 2024
author: Julie Olivia
name: maria
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 223315175
All of it is wrong.

A thousand years ago, Adecca was sent away to serve the spirits of the dead; Mikael was exiled after being cursed by the Wood. They were each other's best and only friends—or so Adecca thought—until, with one unexpected kiss, Mikael enchanted them both with eternal sleep.

Now Adecca has awakened, and the world is nothing like she remembers. The empire's machines move of their own volition, a man-eating forest is growing into the city, and conflicts between the empress and the engineering guilds is spiraling out of control.

Still, Adecca could have everything she ever wanted—a home among people, actual friends!—and all she must do is ignore the supernatural mysteries writhing beneath Helvensgate and pretend she is madly in love with Mikael.

Clearly something must be sacrificed for this world to be at peace. But does it always have to be her?]]> 469 Elizabeth Spencer maria 0 to-read 4.17
author: Elizabeth Spencer
name: maria
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/24
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]]> 224082674 Past and present collide in this swoony romance when a girl searching for a sense of belonging may have found it in an unexpected—and undeniably charming—visitor from the nineteenth century.

Delaney Carmichael's final year of boarding school at Ivernia is not off to a great start. Losing her father has left her feeling completely unmoored—both emotionally and in terms of what she wants to do with her future. So when Delaney discovers that Ivernia—the one stable place in her life—is on the brink of shuttering its doors, it feels like the last straw. If life is measured in what she has to lose, then does anything matter?

Desperate for a solution, Delaney makes a wish—for a way to save Ivernia. The universe's response? Enter Lord William Cromwell of Dunbry, a tall, handsome, and woefully out-of-place-boy from nineteenth-century London. At first, Delaney thinks this charming English heartthrob might somehow be the answer to her problems, but when disastrous consequences begin to unfold at an alarming rate, she realizes that if she can't return William to where and when he belongs, the present could unravel completely. Much to Delaney's dismay, the only person capable of helping her is her brother's infuriating best friend, Sumner, a boy who seems dead-set on getting under her skin. With time quickly running out, can the two set things straight before the past begins messing with the present in irreversible ways?]]> 432 Farrah Penn 0593528336 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.33
author: Farrah Penn
name: maria
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/24
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]]> 222419309
Violet Harper knows her best friend was murdered. Even if everyone else has labeled her death a “freak accident,�� Vi is sure she’d been trying to tell her something right before she died. Cryptic messages about her friend’s elite boarding school, her whirlwind romance, and the mysterious secret society she was entangled in all point to a more sinister fate.

So, Violet does what no one else seems willing to do: She transfers to the same fancy school to dig into the society’s murky history and find out what really happened to her friend. She knows the truth might not be pretty, but what she doesn’t bargain for is the handsome boy at the center of it all—Calvin Lockwell, the brother of her prime suspect and descendant of the school’s founder. He’s obnoxious and privileged, and Violet can’t deny their haunting attraction. It soon becomes clear his family is hiding a dark secret that may not be of this world, and suddenly Violet’s following her friend’s doomed footsteps down the rabbit hole. Even as details emerge of a deadly curse plaguing the school, she can’t escape her true feelings for Calvin. But loving him may be the last thing she ever does.]]> 288 Skyla Arndt 0593693191 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.23 2025
author: Skyla Arndt
name: maria
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/24
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]]> 213782286
When Mazzy and her best friend Nora sneak down to the beach one moonlit night to cast a spell, they don’t expect to find a dead body. But as the tide rolls in, it carries the remains of a woman who is missing her hands and teeth.

The girls know they should leave the investigation to the police, but they can’t shake the weird, supernatural connection they feel with the dead woman. Using spellwork and divination, they set out to find answers of their own. But after they uncover a rash of local disappearances stretching back years—and both girls start having occult visions and hearing ghostly, whispering voices—Mazzy worries that she and Nora are in danger.

Then, Nora finds a second body. And a whispering voice is telling her where to find more. With everything spiraling, Mazzy needs to figure out who to trust and how to sever this supernatural connection—or she and Nora might be the next bodies to wash up on the beach.]]> 352 Nicole Lesperance 0593856333 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.12 2025
author: Nicole Lesperance
name: maria
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/24
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]]> 220291395 A lush, atmospheric and achingly magical standalone adult fantasy romance set in Renaissance Italy from a #1 New York Times bestselling author.

In 15th-century Volterra, sculptress Ravenna Maffei enters a competition hosted by a secretive, immortal family who offer an invaluable boon to the victor. Desperate to win so she can save her brother, Ravenna reveals a rare magical talent-a dangerous act in a city where magic is forbidden. Her revelation makes her a target, and she is kidnapped by the Luni family and taken to Florence, a city of breathtaking beauty and cutthroat ambition.

There, Ravenna is forced into an impossible task where failure means certain death at the hands of Saturnino dei Luni, the family's enigmatic and merciless heir. But under his cold reserve hides a vulnerability that draws her closer than she ever intended.

Meanwhile, Ravenna's forbidden magic does not go unnoticed. The Pope, waging war against Florence, the Medici, and magic itself, has his own interest in her abilities, seeing her as a potential weapon in his ruthless campaign.

As alliances shift and war brews on the horizon, Ravenna must navigate the treacherous line between survival and betrayal, between love and duty. With time running out and her every move watched, the choices she makes will determine the fate of not just her own life, but the fragile balance of magic and power that could unravel Florence itself.]]> Isabel Ibañez maria 0 to-read 5.00 2026
author: Isabel Ibañez
name: maria
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> 36260155
When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, however, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon, or what horrors she has faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome prince, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny to sit on the throne beside him. Ama comes with Emory back to the kingdom of Harding, hailed as the new princess, welcomed to the court.

However, as soon as her first night falls, she begins to realize that not all is as it seems, that there is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows–and that the greatest threats to her life may not be behind her, but here, in front of her.]]> 320 Elana K. Arnold 0062742345 maria 0 to-read, adaptations 3.28 2018
author: Elana K. Arnold
name: maria
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read, adaptations
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]]> 48715812 here.

Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.

After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap.

Desperation makes her open-minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night-shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll be there only when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.

Of course, since they live together, sometimes they do need to share information. Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes—first about what day is garbage day, then politely establishing which leftovers are up for grabs and debating the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Soon, they're sharing details of their lives: their work, their families, their romances. And it's amazing how much they learn about their flatmate just by sharing a space.

Even though they are complete opposites, Tiffy and Leon soon become friends. And then maybe more.

But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea . . . especially if you've never met. What happens when you finally bump into each other?

A joyful, quirky romantic comedy, The Flatshare is a feel-good novel about finding love in the most unexpected of places—under the same roof.]]> 328 Beth O'Leary 1250295637 maria 0 to-read 3.98 2019
author: Beth O'Leary
name: maria
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> 25614850 The expanded and updated edition of David Shipler's Pulitzer Prize-winning book that examines the relationship, past and present, between Arabs and Jews

In this monumental work, extensively researched and more relevant than ever, David Shipler delves into the origins of the prejudices that exist between Jews and Arabs that have been intensified by war, terrorism, and nationalism.

Focusing on the diverse cultures that exist side by side in Israel and Israeli-controlled territories, Shipler examines the process of indoctrination that begins in schools; he discusses the far-ranging effects of socioeconomic differences, historical conflicts between Islam and Judaism, attitudes about the Holocaust, and much more. And he writes of the people: the Arab woman in love with a Jew, the retired Israeli military officer, the Palestinian guerrilla, the handsome actor whose father is Arab and whose mother is Jewish.

For Shipler, and for all who read this book, their stories and hundreds of others reflect not only the reality of "wounded spirits" but also a glimmer of hope for eventual coexistence in the Promised Land.]]> 768 David K. Shipler 0553447513 maria 2 Centrist trash 4.17 1986
author: David K. Shipler
name: maria
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1986
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/22
date added: 2025/04/22
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Centrist trash
]]> 52090 The New Yorker, Hannah Arendt’s authoritative and stunning report on the trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann sparked a flurry of debate upon its publication.

This revised edition includes material that came to light after the trial, as well as Arendt’s postscript directly addressing the controversy that arose over her account. A major journalistic triumph by an intellectual of singular influence,

Eichmann in Jerusalem is as shocking as it is informative—an unflinching look at one of the most unsettling and unsettled issues of the twentieth century that remains hotly debated to this day.]]> 312 Hannah Arendt maria 4 4.22 1963
author: Hannah Arendt
name: maria
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/22
date added: 2025/04/22
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]]> 216247498 Magic and adventure swirl through this spellbinding romantasy where a young woman reignites the embers of an ancient prophecy, unleashing a storm that could save her realm or doom them all.

Fear of maegic plagues war-torn Anwyvn. Halflings like Rhya Fleetwood are killed on sight. But Rhya’s execution is interrupted by an unexpected savior—one far more terrifying than her would-be killers. The mysterious and mercenary Commander Scythe. In the clutches of this new enemy, Rhya finds herself fighting for her life in the barren reaches of the Northlands. Yet the farther she gets from home, the more she learns that nothing is as it seems—not her fearsome captor, not the blight that ravages her dying realm, not even herself.

For Rhya is no ordinary halfling. The strange birthmark on her chest and the wind she instinctively calls forth means she is a Remnant, one of four souls scattered across Anwyvn, fated to restore the balance of maegic…or die trying.

But mastering the power inside her is only the beginning. Desire for the Commander—a man she can never trust, a man with plans of his own—burns just as fiercely as the tempests beating against her rib cage for release. Rhya must choose: smother the flames…or let them consume her.]]> 544 Julie Johnson 0593817869 maria 0 to-read 4.02 2025
author: Julie Johnson
name: maria
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61085925
Alizeh, the heir to the Jinn throne, is destined to free her people from the half-lives they’ve been forced to live under human rule. When Kamran, the heir to the human throne, falls in love with her, he’s forced to question everything he’s been taught about Jinn.

Kamran’s grandfather lays dead at the hand of Cyrus, ruler of the neighboring kingdom of Tulan. Cyrus has stolen Alizeh away to his homeland and plans to marry her there, giving her everything she needs to become the Jinn queen—and when she assumes the throne he will have fulfilled his own bargain with the devil.

Alizeh wants nothing to do with Cyrus’s deal or the devil. But without a way to escape Tulan, and with the fulfillment of her own destiny tantalizingly close, she’ll have to decide whether she can set aside her emotions to become the queen her people need.

Kamran, meanwhile, is picking up the pieces in Ardunia. Facing betrayal at every turn, all he knows is that he must go to Tulan to avenge his grandfather. He can only hope that Alizeh will be waiting for him there—and that she hasn’t yet become the queen of Tulan.

Full of explosive magic, searing romance, and heartbreaking betrayal, this breathtaking sequel to This Woven Kingdom is from the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series and is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sabaa Tahir, and Tomi Adeyemi.]]> 416 Tahereh Mafi 0062972499 maria 5 bookshopping, favorites ]]> 4.09 2023
author: Tahereh Mafi
name: maria
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/21
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: bookshopping, favorites
review:
“You really do exist, then. You’re not merely a fairy tale.��

]]> 221179150
Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogen’s bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain hidden beneath her skin.

When a neighboring king comes to visit, Imogen can no longer hide. He knows precisely what she is, and he believes she can save both their kingdoms from an even greater monster. But Imogen’s power threatens to violently reveal itself, and the two form a blood bond that protects them both. They flee the kingdom together, traversing waters teeming with the undead. As the lines between duty to their people and desire for each other begin to blur, Imogen worries her own ancestral powers may not be enough to kill what hunts her—the only way to defeat a monster may be to become one herself.]]> 384 Kalie Cassidy 0316587605 maria 0 to-read, arcs 4.14 2025
author: Kalie Cassidy
name: maria
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read, arcs
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]]> 220160176
Pandora Small has two ruling objectives: first, to keep the prodigious extent of her power secret, in a world where mages are feared and governed by suffocating laws. Second, to find her wealthy and noble-born patron, a shadowy figure bound to Pandora by magic, who stole her childhood and grew her power until she became a weapon rather than a girl. To that end, she’s posing as an Ingenue, a privileged and petted young woman of strictly limited abilities, who is allowed access to the royal court’s social season in order to find a husband and patron to control her magic.

But on Pandora’s arrival at court, Kit Beacon, one of the most promising members of the Royal Guard, inadvertently learns the true scope of her power. Privately sympathetic towards mages and the difficulties they face, Beacon decides to keep Pandora’s secret. But when someone or something with powers terribly like Pandora’s own begins slaughtering her fellow Ingenues, Beacon’s resolve to keep what he knows about her private is put to the test.

Tasked with protecting all the girls in the palace, not just one, Beacon will have to decide whether Pandora is a suspect or an ally, while to win his trust, Pandora will have to let him know more of her still—the worst of who she is and what she’s done. Because only unity between them during the social whirlwind to come will enable Pan to find her patron and Beacon the killer, and ensure they both see justice meted out.]]> 368 Laura E. Weymouth 1665959754 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 3.87 2025
author: Laura E. Weymouth
name: maria
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
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]]> 200555182
Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, capturing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon.��

For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals.��

When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning.��Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.]]> 384 India Holton maria 5 3.90 2024
author: India Holton
name: maria
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: favorites, infinity-star-reads
review:
“All may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology…”☕��
]]> 594732 Book by Fitzgerald, Zelda 0 Zelda Fitzgerald 0897230221 maria 0 to-read 3.50 1932
author: Zelda Fitzgerald
name: maria
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1932
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 191755077 Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King's heart.

Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King’s rule. Her only desire is to escape and pay him back for every moment of misery she's endured.

When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the rival Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight as she competes against nine other Tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she'll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.

But Lor doesn't belong in the Sun Queen Trials. Not only does she not understand why she was freed, she isn’t a citizen of the Sun King’s court. The other Tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is removed from the competition, permanently.

Now Lor must win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she'll be returned to the evil—and now vengeful—Aurora King.]]> 400 Nisha J. Tuli 1538767481 maria 0 to-read 3.81 2023
author: Nisha J. Tuli
name: maria
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> 123206890 Launching a new trilogy in the Shades of Magic universe, an enchanting and thrilling epic fantasy from the international sensation, V. E. Schwab, perfect for fans of Samantha Shannon, Kerri Maniscalco, Leigh Bardugo and R. F. Kuang.

Seven years have passed since the doors between the worlds were sealed. Seven years since Kell, Lila and Holland stood against Osaron, a desperate battle that saved the worlds of Red, Grey and White London. Seven years since Kell’s magic was shattered, and Holland lost his life.

Now Rhy Maresh rules Red London with his new family �� his queen, Nadiya, their daughter Ren, and his consort, Alucard. But his city boils with conspiracy and rebellion, fuelled by rumours he is causing magic to fade from the word.

Now Kosika, a child Antari, sits on the throne of White London. The new queen leads her people in new rituals of sacrifice and blood in devotion to the altar of Holland Vosijk, summoning vast power she may not be able to control.

Now Lila and Kell, living free on the waves, are charged by the captain of the Floating Market to retrieve an immensely powerful artefact, stolen by secretive forces.

Now Tes, a young woman with a knack for fixing broken things, is thrust into the affairs of Antari and kings, traitors and thieves. And only her unique powers can weave the threads of power together.

A triumphant return to the worlds of The Shades of Magic, The Fragile Threads of Power continues the stories of fan-favourite characters Kell, Lila, Rhy and Alucard, and introduces a new generation of magic, shadows and embers in the dark.]]> 576 Victoria E. Schwab 178565246X maria 0 to-read 4.37 2023
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: maria
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 20764879
Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games--an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries--a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall.]]> 512 Victoria E. Schwab 0765376474 maria 0 to-read 4.20 2016
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: maria
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> 29939230 Witness the fate of beloved heroes - and enemies.

THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED...
The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.

WHO WILL CRUMBLE?
Kell - once assumed to be the last surviving Antari - begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?

WHO WILL RISE?
Lila Bard, once a commonplace - but never common - thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?
And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.]]> 624 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387468 maria 0 to-read 4.30 2017
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: maria
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 22055262
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.]]> 400 Victoria E. Schwab 0765376458 maria 0 to-read 4.04 2015
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: maria
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211809571 The third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

Book Three of the Emily Wilde Series]]> 368 Heather Fawcett 0593500237 maria 5 ]]> 4.25 2025
author: Heather Fawcett
name: maria
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: favorites, infinity-star-reads
review:
“I must write it down. For it is writing it that I will discover a way out. A door within the story. There is one. It cannot end here. Yet some stories do.��

]]> 123029113 A whimsical and heartwarming novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps her aunt run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her. But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power��

Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and might just know how to unlock the spell’s secrets. Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain bewitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell. Worse, he might actually be thawing.

Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera Swan is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone...and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.]]> 336 Sangu Mandanna maria 0 4.36 2025
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: maria
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases, arcs, spring
review:

]]> 215700931 Fourth Wing meets Iron Widow in this enemies-to-lovers romantic fantasy by debut author Mikayla Bridge. The hottest must-read of the summer!

On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly.

Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren “Coup�� Coupers �� an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head.

As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel's home is mistakenly burned down, and she’s forced to take a job from a mysterious tech mogul with an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This sets in motion a conspiracy that threatens everyone Kel cares for, especially Coup, for whom her embers of resentment are quickly igniting into something dangerously new.

Heart-pounding pages full of steamy romance, fiery confessions, political scheming, and volatile magic culminate ina final twist readers will never see coming.]]> 416 Mikayla Bridge 0374393427 maria 0 to-read, arcs 4.23 2025
author: Mikayla Bridge
name: maria
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/16
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]]> 38455544 here.

Jane Austen's first novel—published posthumously in 1818—tells the story of Catherine Morland and her dangerously sweet nature, innocence, and sometime self-delusion. Though Austen's fallible heroine is repeatedly drawn into scrapes while vacationing at Bath and during her subsequent visit to Northanger Abbey, Catherine eventually triumphs, blossoming into a discerning woman who learns truths about love, life, and the heady power of literature. The satirical novel pokes fun at the gothic novel while earnestly emphasizing caution to the female sex.]]> 320 Jane Austen maria 0 to-read, spring 3.83 1817
author: Jane Austen
name: maria
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1817
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: to-read, spring
review:

]]> 61150756 An inventive and fantastical reimagining of Anne of Green Gables—with magic and witches!—that explores found family, loss, and the power of a girl's imagination, from the acclaimed author of The Language of Ghosts and The School Between Winter and Fairyland.

Grace has never been good at anything except magic—not that anyone believes her. While other children are adopted from the orphanage, nobody wants Grace. So she decides to make a home for herself by running away and offering herself as an apprentice to the witch in the nearby woods. After all, who better to teach Grace to use her magic? Surely the witch can’t be that bad.

But the witch is that bad—she steals souls for spells and gobbles up hearts. So Grace offers a deal: If she can learn all 100½ spells in the witch’s grimoire, the witch will make Grace her apprentice. But if Grace fails, the witch can take her magic. The witch agrees, and soon an unexpected bond develops between them. But the spells are much harder than Grace expected, and when a monster from the witch’s past threatens the home Grace has built, she may have to sacrifice more than her magic to save it.

Inspired by Anne of Green Gables, this is a magical story of found family, loss, and the power of a girl’s imagination.]]> 360 Heather Fawcett 0063142627 maria 0 to-read, summer 4.10 2023
author: Heather Fawcett
name: maria
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: to-read, summer
review:

]]> 201845532 Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities.

One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job, but it’s only the latest in a line of injustices facing any educated woman with archaeological ambitions.

When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she’s holding her chance to revolutionize Pre-Colombian history. There’s just one teensy complication. A ruthless villain wants it, and Ellie is all that stands in his way.

To race him to the ruins—and avoid being violently disposed of—she needs the help of maverick surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling rogue who can’t seem to keep his dratted shirt on.

But there’s more than Ellie’s scholarly reputation (and life) on the line. Her enemies aren’t just looters. They’re after an arcane secret rumored to lie in the heart of the ruins, a mythical artifact with a power that could shake the world.

Between stealing trousers, plummeting over waterfalls, and trying not to fall in love with her machete-wielding partner, will Ellie be able to stop the oracle of a lost empire from falling into the wrong hands?

Empire of Shadows is the first book in Jacquelyn Benson’s smart, swashbuckling Raiders of the Arcana series. Read it now and dive into a rip-roaring historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Romancing the Stone and The Mummy.]]> 478 Jacquelyn Benson 1959050125 maria 0 4.20 2024
author: Jacquelyn Benson
name: maria
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: to-read, summer, bookshopping, historical
review:

]]> 52085140
The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of novella-length volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.]]> 125 Beth Brower 0998063614 maria 0 to-read, summer, historical 4.23 2019
author: Beth Brower
name: maria
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: to-read, summer, historical
review:

]]> 214355294 A new teen fantasy adventure series from bestselling author Connie Glynn, with hidden powers, budding romance and dark magic...

Astrid glanced up at the looming manor house with all its spires and creeping ivy. A refuge, or just another cage?

Astrid and Jonas have only ever had each other. As twins, they share a bond. But they also share something doctors have called twisted and demonic their entire flowers whisper instructions, trees sing of their histories. The siblings are kept away from nature by their caretakers, but it still calls to them.

Meanwhile, Gwen knows all about the shadow world of Bloom Bloods �� people living among us who have magic running through their veins. They act under the instruction of the Queen, conserving fantastical creatures and studying the ancient melodies of magic to keep the mundane and mystic worlds in harmony. But Gwen failed her application to Fountains Abbey, the venerable school that trains up the next generation of Bloom Bloods, and she is now determined to prove her worth.

A mysterious evil is spreading throughout the world; unnatural monsters are appearing in hazardous places �� monsters that weave discordant magic. When the twins and Gwen collide, their unique abilities are revealed. But will their combined powers be enough to stop what’s rising in the darkness?

If you enjoyed The Twin Crowns series, you'll love this!]]> 342 Connie Glynn 0241646170 maria 0 to-read, bookshopping 3.77
author: Connie Glynn
name: maria
average rating: 3.77
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/15
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]]> 61239775
In the kingdom of Olderea, dabbling in witchcraft is a sure way to the guillotine.

When sixteen-year-old debutante Amarante Flora finds out she’s half witch, all she wants is to get rid of her magic. After all, zapping Prince Ash in the midst of high society’s Season certainly won’t help her troublemaking reputation.

But the more her powers grow, the more she realizes magic—and the witches who possess it—are not as dangerous as she was led to believe. When the queen falls mysteriously ill, Amarante knows there are far more dangers lurking in the palace than in Witch Village.

Among potion-brewing and glittering receptions, Amarante joins Prince Ash in an investigation before innocent witches are condemned. However, uncovering the culprit’s schemes could mean exposing her magic. And exposing her magic would mean her very life—and the contempt of the prince she is trying to help.]]> 424 Ireen Chau maria 0 to-read, bookshopping 4.02 2021
author: Ireen Chau
name: maria
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: to-read, bookshopping
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]]> 216247464 Geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission in this swoony historical-fantasy rom-com.

Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her--except her own personal disaster, that is: Professor Gabriel Tarrant, the grumpy, unfriendly man she married for convenience a year ago, whom she secretly loves.

Gabriel is also an expert in magic disasters. And nothing fazes him either--except the walking, talking tornado that is his wife. They've been estranged since shortly after their wedding day, but that hasn't stopped him from stoically pining for her.

When magic erupts in a small Welsh village, threatening catastrophe for the rest of England, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they must come together as a team in the face of perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed. But this is easier said than done. After all, there's no navigational guide for the geography of the heart.]]> 368 India Holton 0593641477 maria 3 4.08 2025
author: India Holton
name: maria
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
review:
“So much of her life has been about escaping, in dreams and books and out of windows, that she didn’t quite know how to stay.��
]]> 212174157 From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.]]> 656 Antonia Hodgson 152933988X maria 0 to-read, bookshopping 4.49 2025
author: Antonia Hodgson
name: maria
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/10
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]]> 207003161 Torn apart by war. Reunited by love?

Two weeks have passed since Iris returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over.

Roman is missing, lost behind enemy lines, with no memory of his past, or Iris. Hoping his memories return, he begins to write again �� but this time for the enemy.

When a strange letter arrives through his wardrobe door, he strikes up a correspondence with a penpal who seems at once mysterious�� and strangely familiar.

As their connection deepens, the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.]]> Rebecca Ross maria 5 favorites 4.10 2023
author: Rebecca Ross
name: maria
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/03
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: favorites
review:
The ending I always hoped Iris and Roman would have.
]]> 62796217
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross's Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.]]> 368 Rebecca Ross 0008588155 maria 5 4.34 2023
author: Rebecca Ross
name: maria
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/31
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: favorites, favorite-series, books-to-reread, infinity-star-reads
review:

]]> 214438337 RED QUEEN meets SHADOW AND BONE in this explosive start to a YA romantasy trilogy about dangerous magic, forbidden love, and a cut-throat competition for the throne in an empire where crowns are not inherited -- they're won.

The very day Blaze came into the world, she almost drowned it. A Rain Singer born into one of the most powerful fire-wielding families in the empire, Blaze's birth summoned a devastating storm that left thousands dead. She's been hidden away ever since with a dark secret: the same torrential power that branded her an outcast disappeared that fateful day. And she’s not sure she wants it back.

When an unexpected invitation arrives for Blaze and her twin brother, Flint, to compete as future rulers of the empire, she’s suddenly thrust into the limelight again -- and into battle. Threats abound at the Golden Palace, where intrigue and romance await with not one but two handsome suitors: the enchanting Crown Prince and a dangerously alluring newcomer at court.

As Blaze explores her untapped power, she discovers the throne may be within her grasp. But in order to take it, she’ll have to leave behind the stories that others have told about her, and find the courage to write her own.]]> 416 Lauryn Hamilton Murray 1250348153 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.28 2025
author: Lauryn Hamilton Murray
name: maria
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
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]]> 221480902 Princess Bellanova has spent years surviving on her own, forced to flee her palace in order to escape the curse that put the rest of her royal family into a death-like slumber and set their lands to rotting. After spending her exile honing her thievery skills alongside her innate necromancy powers, Nova has earned a reputation as one of the fiercest outlaws the kingdom has ever suffered.

But soon she’ll be the fiercest outlaw who ever died.

A death that will be on purpose.

For rumor has it that the true cause of her family’s demise—Luminor, the Blade of Light—is buried deep in the belly of the underworld. Stealing that blade back into the realm of the living will mean a chance at undoing the curses it left, restoring her family, her reputation, and her kingdom to life.

The only things standing in her way are the endless twists and turns of the underworld, its terrifying monsters, unpredictable magic…and Aleksander, the infamous Light King himself—keeper of the blade, and the one who wielded it on the night of her family’s ruin.

King Aleks has spent nearly a decade trapped in the underworld, a phantom of his former self, unable to truly die. When Nova crash lands into his purgatory—an inexplicably bright and lively being in a sea of endless dead things—he begins to dream of the world above for the first time in ages.

He needs her to get him back to that world above. She needs him to undo the curse. But as the two form a reluctant alliance that soon blooms into something dangerously deeper, they find themselves unraveling ancient magic and dark secrets that will have greater consequences than either of them could have ever imagined...]]> 621 S.M. Gaither maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.28
author: S.M. Gaither
name: maria
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
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]]> 199252912 Two opposites decide to test their chemistry with one steamy night together. But will once be enough?

Nova Porter isn’t looking for love, and she certainly has no explanation for her attraction to buttoned-up, three-piece-suit-wearing investment banker Charlie Milford. Maybe it’s his charm? Or maybe it’s his determination to help her fledgling business however he can. Either way, she’s distracted every time he’s around. With her new tattoo studio set to open in her hometown of Inglewild, she doesn’t have time for frivolous flirtations.��

In an effort to get Charlie out of her system once and for all, Nova offers a proposition. One night. No strings. They’ll kick their uncomfortable attraction to the curb and return to their respective responsibilities.��But their explosive night together scatters their expectations like fallen leaves. And with Charlie in town as the temporary head of Lovelight Farms, Nova can’t quite avoid him.��

And Charlie? Well, Charlie knows a good investment when he sees one. He’s hoping he can convince Nova he’s worth some of her time.]]> 384 B.K. Borison 0593641175 maria 0 to-read, autumn, bookshopping 4.09 2024
author: B.K. Borison
name: maria
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read, autumn, bookshopping
review:

]]> 121764710
She’s waded through all of the fish in the sea, each one more disappointing than the last. Apparently owning the bakery at Inglewild’s most romantic destination does not help one’s love life—despite her best efforts. All she wants is a partner who gives her butterflies, not someone who ghosts her at dinner and leaves her with the check.

Good thing Caleb Alvarez has the perfect solution.

After saving Layla from another date gone bad, he has a simple proposition: One month of no-strings dating. He’ll do his best to renew her faith in men while she rates his dating game. It’s a win-win situation. All the benefits of dating, without the added pressure of feelings and unmet expectations.

But there’s one ingredient they haven’t considered. The chemistry between them is red hot and the urge to take things to the next level is more tempting than Layla’s double fudge mocha brownies.

Will the heat between them boil over? Or will it be another case of mixed signals?

Mixed Signals is a sweet and steamy small-town romance. Our story features a bashful man who can rock a Hawaiian shirt, a hopeful and dreamy bakery owner, enough sweets to give you a cavity, and your favorite Inglewild residents. Mixed Signals is a standalone romance and the third book in the Lovelight series, a collection of interconnected novels.]]> 335 B.K. Borison 0593641167 maria 0 to-read, bookshopping, summer 3.89 2022
author: B.K. Borison
name: maria
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read, bookshopping, summer
review:

]]> 213243908 A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.

Aiden Valentine has a secret: he's fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore's romance hotline, that's a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.

Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life-or lack thereof—she begins to question if she's as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending... even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.]]> 448 B.K. Borison 0593641191 maria 0 to-read, bookshopping 4.05 2025
author: B.K. Borison
name: maria
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read, bookshopping
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]]> 48580056 A glamorous media darling, a surprise heiress, and the magical competition of a lifetime.

At sixteen, Honora “Nora�� Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money–and all the magic–in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir.

But there’s a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora’s aunt. When Lotte’s absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she’d abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead.

And soon, Nora discovers that her mother’s death wasn’t random–it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for.

With everyone against her, Lotte’s last hope is hunting for the identity of her father. But the dangerous competition–and her feelings for Theo, one of the Holtzfalls�� sworn protectors–turns her world upside down.]]> 320 Alwyn Hamilton 0451479661 maria 0 to-read, bookshopping 4.24 2025
author: Alwyn Hamilton
name: maria
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read, bookshopping
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]]> 213197161 An epic new fantasy about a demon hunter and a foot soldier thrown together in a centuries-old war�� and the forbidden love that could change the course of history.

A bloody war between demons and the Vatican has waged for more than a century, with two elite soldiers now at its center: Selene Alleva, a high-ranking exorcist running from a dark family legacy, and orphan Jules Lacroix, recruited by the Vatican and unrivalled on the battlefield.

When their paths cross over a series of unprecedented demon attacks, the distrust–and unwelcome attraction–they have for each other is immediate. But to get to the bottom of the breaches they strike an uneasy alliance to avoid suspicion. With Jules posing as Selene’s estranged fiance, they head to the Vatican in search of answers. But even as Selene questions who her most dangerous enemy is, Jules has begun to suspect that it’s him.

Now Jules�� very existence challenges every truth Selene thought she knew, and suggests a terrible conspiracy at the heart of the Vatican. Unable to ignore their growing feelings, the two must make an impossible choice between love and duty.

They say love conquers all �� but can it win in a war between demons and exorcists? Or will it tear them apart��]]> 496 Sophie Clark 0593810724 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 3.58 2025
author: Sophie Clark
name: maria
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
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]]> 17347383
Harry Potter isn’t safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may be a traitor in their midst.

--back cover]]> 435 J.K. Rowling 0545582938 maria 0 4.74 1999
author: J.K. Rowling
name: maria
average rating: 4.74
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
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review:

]]> 60091369
As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.]]> 496 Rebecca Ross 0063055996 maria 0 to-read, spring 4.15 2022
author: Rebecca Ross
name: maria
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, spring
review:

]]> 43453718
On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.

Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts.

They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate...]]> 304 Kiran Millwood Hargrave 151010674X maria 0 to-read 3.51 2019
author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
name: maria
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 182761396 Set in a world of perilous magic and moonlit forests, this seductive romantic fantasy tells the story of a defiant changeling, her cursed sister, and the dangerous fae lord she must defeat to save her family.

In a kingdom where magic has been lost, Fia is a rare changeling, left behind by the wicked Fair Folk when they stole the High Queen's daughter and retreated behind the locked gates of Tír na nÓg.

Most despise Fia's fae blood. But the queen raises her as a daughter and trains her to be a spy. Meanwhile, the real princess Eala is bound to Tír na nÓg, cursed to become a swan by day and only returning to her true form at night.

When a hidden gate to the realm is discovered, Fia is tasked by the queen to retrieve the princess and break her curse. But she doesn’t go with her is prince Rogan, Fia's dearest childhood friend—and Eala’s betrothed.

As they journey through the forests of the Folk, where magic winds through the roots of the trees and beauty can be a deadly illusion, Fia’s mission is complicated by her feelings for the prince…and her unexpected attraction to the dark-hearted fae lord holding Eala captive. Irian might be more monster than man, but he seems to understand Fia in a way no one ever has.

Soon, Fia begins to question the truth of her mission. But time is running out to break her sister's curse. And unraveling the secrets of the past might destroy everything she has come to love.]]> 496 Lyra Selene 0316564966 maria 0 to-read, historical, summer 3.71 2024
author: Lyra Selene
name: maria
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, historical, summer
review:

]]> 61198133 A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both.

Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.

Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.

Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He’s on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren’s help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind.

#1��New York Times��bestselling author Holly Black returns to the opulent world of Elfhame in the first book in a thrilling new duology, following Jude's brother Oak, and the changeling queen, Suren.]]> 356 Holly Black 0316592706 maria 0 to-read, summer 3.92 2023
author: Holly Black
name: maria
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, summer
review:

]]> 22456224 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here.

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.]]> 377 Rick Riordan maria 3 adaptations 4.36 2005
author: Rick Riordan
name: maria
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/11
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: adaptations
review:

]]> 49826643
Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.

Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organizations of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.

The Orders�� intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. But even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future�� or the downfall of them both.

But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders�� deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.

Even if it means wielding death itself.

Fans of epic romantic fantasy like Sarah J. Maas and Raven Kennedy will devour this tale of dark magic, passionate romance, vengeance, and redemption.]]> 520 Carissa Broadbent maria 0 to-read 4.03 2020
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: maria
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 29748925
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries - including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo's dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage.]]> 536 Laini Taylor 1444788981 maria 5 favorites Ow. 4.39 2017
author: Laini Taylor
name: maria
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/20
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: favorites
review:
Ow.
]]> 211004720 She was commanded to kill him with a single strike to the heart. She didn’t expect her own to betray her.

Sylina has sacrificed everything for her goddess–her soul, her freedom, her eyes. Life in service to the Arachessen, a cult of the Goddess of Fate, has turned Sylina from orphaned street-rat to disciplined killer, determined to overthrow Glaea’s tyrannical king. But when a brutal vampire conqueror arrives on their shores, Sylina faces an even deadlier adversary. She’s tasked with a crucial mission: infiltrate his army, earn his trust�� and kill him.

Atrius is a terrifying warrior carving an unstoppable path through Glaea. Yet when Sylina becomes his seer, she glimpses a dark and shocking past–and a side of him that reminds her far too much of parts of herself she’d rather forget. Sylina’s orders are clear. The conqueror cannot live. But as the blood spilled by Glaea’s tyrant king runs thicker, her connection with Atrius only grows stronger. A connection forbidden by her vows. A connection that could cost her everything.]]> 356 Carissa Broadbent 1035051737 maria 0 to-read 4.14 2023
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: maria
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 12974372 You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one's life—is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . .

All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.]]> 334 Marie Brennan 0765331969 maria 0 3.83 2013
author: Marie Brennan
name: maria
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read, historical, dark-academia, summer
review:

]]> 215362543 A delightful queer romantic fantasy full of friends-to-lovers chemistry, found family, rival family drama, and cozy garden magic from two acclaimed YA authors making their debut in the adult space.

Yael Clauneck is the only scion of an obscenely wealthy banking family with its fingers in every pie in the realm. They’re on the precipice of a predetermined life when they flee their own graduation party, galloping away in search of…well, they’re not sure, but maybe the chance to feel like life can still be a grand adventure.

Margot Greenwillow—talented plant witch, tea lover, and greenhouse owner—has never felt further from adventure in her life. She’s been desperately trying to keep what remains of her family's magic remedies business afloat. So when her childhood friend and former crush, Yael, rides back into her life, she’s shocked. But perhaps this could be a good thing. After all, Margot could use an assistant in the greenhouses.

Yael has no experience or, honestly, practical skills, but they’re delighted to accept. They can lay low for a while, flirting with Margot while they figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, Margot has plans of her own—but plans are notoriously unreliable things, unlikely to survive a swiftly blooming mutual attraction, not to mention the machinations of parents determined to get their heir back . . . no matter the cost.]]> 368 Jamie Pacton 0593873653 maria 0 to-read 3.52 2025
author: Jamie Pacton
name: maria
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36373571
Mary Jekyll’s life has been peaceful since she helped Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson solve the Whitechapel Murders. Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, Justine Frankenstein, and Mary’s sister Diana Hyde have settled into the Jekyll household in London, and although they sometimes quarrel, the members of the Athena Club get along as well as any five young women with very different personalities. At least they can always rely on Mrs. Poole.

But when Mary receives a telegram that Lucinda Van Helsing has been kidnapped, the Athena Club must travel to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to rescue yet another young woman who has been subjected to horrific experimentation. Where is Lucinda, and what has Professor Van Helsing been doing to his daughter? Can Mary, Diana, Beatrice, and Justine reach her in time?

Racing against the clock to save Lucinda from certain doom, the Athena Club embarks on a madcap journey across Europe. From Paris to Vienna to Budapest, Mary and her friends must make new allies, face old enemies, and finally confront the fearsome, secretive Alchemical Society. It’s time for these monstrous gentlewomen to overcome the past and create their own destinies.]]> 720 Theodora Goss 1481466534 maria 3 3.99 2018
author: Theodora Goss
name: maria
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 46025057 322 Rick Riordan maria 0 to-read, summer 4.50 2007
author: Rick Riordan
name: maria
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read, summer
review:

]]> 65213381
When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.]]> 416 Isabel Ibañez 1250803373 maria 0 to-read 3.82 2023
author: Isabel Ibañez
name: maria
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 39679076 In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.]]> 403 Erin A. Craig 1984831925 maria 0 to-read, historical, summer 3.89 2019
author: Erin A. Craig
name: maria
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read, historical, summer
review:

]]> 25494343 Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel.

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions��

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters�� help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

Glitz, glamours, and Shadowhunters abound in this heartrending opening to Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series.]]> 688 Cassandra Clare 1442468351 maria 0 to-read, summer 4.35 2016
author: Cassandra Clare
name: maria
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read, summer
review:

]]> 34728925
But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.

When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.]]> 402 Theodora Goss 1534409637 maria 4 3.81 2017
author: Theodora Goss
name: maria
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:
“This is the ��90s, as Mary pointed out. It’s time we developed new ways of writing for the new century. We are no longer in the age of Charles Dickens or George Eliot, after all. We are modern. And, of course, monstrous…��
]]> 56969366 This is an alternative cover edition for ISBN 9780141439518

Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

With its 'light and bright and sparkling' dialogue, its romantic denouement and its lively heroine, Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen's most perennially popular novel. The love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, who misjudge, then challenge and change each other, is also a novel about the search for happiness and self-knowledge in a world of strict social rules, where a woman must marry well to survive.]]> 400 Jane Austen maria 1 4.26 1813
author: Jane Austen
name: maria
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1813
rating: 1
read at: 2022/06/27
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
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]]> 214416570 A Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick!

The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel Magnifique returns with this stunning dark academic fantasy full of deadly magic and dangerous secrets, perfect for fans of Divine Rivals and A Study in Drowning.

Seven years ago, Maeve Abenthy lost her world, her father, even her name. Desperate to escape the stain of her father’s crimes, she lives under a fake name, never staying in one place long enough to put down roots.

Then she receives a mysterious letter with four impossible Your father was innocent.

To uncover the truth, she poses as an apprentice for the Otherwhere Post, where she’ll be trained in the art of scriptomancy—the dangerous magic that allows couriers to enchant letters and deliver them to other worlds. But looking into her father’s past draws more attention than she’d planned.

Her secretive, infuriatingly handsome mentor knows she’s lying about her identity, and time is running out to convince him to trust her. Worse, she begins to receive threatening letters, warning her to drop her investigation��or else. For Maeve to unravel the mystery of what happened seven years ago, she may have to forfeit her life.]]> 402 Emily J. Taylor 0593404556 maria 4
Some books just feel like they’re written for you and this was one of them. From the magic school setting, to Maeve being a girl who sees the magic in writing, if in nothing else, and the love interest being an ink-stained boy who also plays sad piano ballads, this just felt like my perfect book. Emily J. Taylor knows how to write a book so perfectly meant to be curled up with on a rain-soaked day. ]]> 4.09 2025
author: Emily J. Taylor
name: maria
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves:
review:
“A letter can become an extension of your soul if you will it, a trapped part of you that shakes loose whenever someone reads your words.��

Some books just feel like they’re written for you and this was one of them. From the magic school setting, to Maeve being a girl who sees the magic in writing, if in nothing else, and the love interest being an ink-stained boy who also plays sad piano ballads, this just felt like my perfect book. Emily J. Taylor knows how to write a book so perfectly meant to be curled up with on a rain-soaked day.
]]> 1715
In Metamophoses, Ovid brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation—often as a result of love or lust—where men and women find themselves magically changed into new and sometimes extraordinary beings. Beginning with the creation of the world and ending with the deification of Augustus, Ovid interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy. Erudite but light-hearted, dramatic and yet playful, Metamorphoses has influenced writers and artists throughout the centuries from Shakespeare and Titian to Picasso and Ted Hughes.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 723 Ovid 014044789X maria 0 to-read 4.08 8
author: Ovid
name: maria
average rating: 4.08
book published: 8
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/03
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]]> 427278 The Waste Land�� is both a poetic diagnosis of an ailing civilization and a desperate quest for spiritual renewal. Through pastiche and collage Eliot unfolds a nightmarish landscape of sexual disorder and spiritual desolation, inhabited by the voice (literary, historical, mythic, contemporary) of an unconscious that is at turns deeply personal and culturally collective. This edition includes ��The Love Song of�� J. Alfred Prufrock,�� ��Portrait of a Lady,�� ��Gerontion,�� and more.]]> 108 T.S. Eliot 014243731X maria 0 to-read 4.04 1922
author: T.S. Eliot
name: maria
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1922
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 34068470 The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.

In this fresh, authoritative version--the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman--this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, this engrossing translation matches the number of lines in the Greek original, thus striding at Homer's sprightly pace and singing with a voice that echoes Homer's music.

Wilson's Odyssey captures the beauty and enchantment of this ancient poem as well as the suspense and drama of its narrative. Its characters are unforgettable, from the cunning goddess Athena, whose interventions guide and protect the hero, to the awkward teenage son, Telemachus, who struggles to achieve adulthood and find his father; from the cautious, clever, and miserable Penelope, who somehow keeps clamoring suitors at bay during her husband's long absence, to the "complicated" hero himself, a man of many disguises, many tricks, and many moods, who emerges in this translation as a more fully rounded human being than ever before.

A fascinating introduction provides an informative overview of the Bronze Age milieu that produced the epic, the major themes of the poem, the controversies about its origins, and the unparalleled scope of its impact and influence. Maps drawn especially for this volume, a pronunciation glossary, and extensive notes and summaries of each book make this an Odyssey that will be treasured by a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers alike.]]> 582 Homer 0393089053 maria 0 to-read 4.30 -700
author: Homer
name: maria
average rating: 4.30
book published: -700
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 12916 Aeneid to honour the emperor Augustus by praising Aeneas - Augustus' legendary ancestor. As a patriotic epic imitating Homer, the Aeneid also set out to provide Rome with a literature equal to that of Greece. It tells of Aeneas, survivor of the sack of Troy, and of his seven-year journey: to Cartage, where he fell tragically in love with Queen Dido; then to the underworld, in the company of the Sibyl of Cumae; and finally to Italy, where he founded Rome. It is a story of defeat and exile, of love and war, hailed by Tennyson as 'the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man'.

David West's acclaimed prose translation is accompanied by an updated introduction, including a new discussion of each of the twelve books of the Aeneid.]]> 297 Virgil 0140449329 maria 0 to-read 3.79 -19
author: Virgil
name: maria
average rating: 3.79
book published: -19
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210191773 Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.]]> 560 R.F. Kuang 0063021471 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.24 2025
author: R.F. Kuang
name: maria
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
review:

]]> 217388302 DELUXE EDITION—a gorgeous hardcover edition featuring bright green sprayed edges, a foil stamp on the casing, and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock & Silver, a dark reimagining of “Snow White�� steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kind

Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.

Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.

But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.

Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick.

Or it might be the thing that kills them all.]]> 368 T. Kingfisher 1250342031 maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 4.30 2025
author: T. Kingfisher
name: maria
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
review:

]]> 59406549 Why save the world when you can have tea?

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone.

Calling on some of the city's most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.

From the New York Times—bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame comes the first book in a hotly anticipated fantasy duology teeming with romance and revenge, led by an orphan girl willing to do whatever it takes to save her self-made kingdom. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.]]> 338 Hafsah Faizal 0374389403 maria 4 ]]> 3.49 2024
author: Hafsah Faizal
name: maria
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves:
review:
“Every good love story starts with a bullet to the heart.��

]]> 177601547 One prestigious publishing contract.
A bargain of hearts and desire.

They say never bargain with the fae. They also say don’t get drunk on fae wine. Yet romance author Edwina Danforth has managed a blunder with both on her first visit to the infamous faelands. Now she's trapped in a magic-fueled bet she barely remembers with a man she’d be happier to forget. The terms? Whoever can bed the most lovers during their month-long dueling book tour wins a coveted publishing contract.

The win should be easy for Edwina. She’s known for penning scintillating tales of whirlwind romance. There’s just one problem: her imagination vastly exceeds her bedroom experience. But when failure means plummeting her career back into obscurity, losing isn’t an option.

Her handsome fae rival, William Haywood, poses an even greater challenge. Not only are his looks as aggravatingly perfect as his track record behind closed doors, but he has his own reasons for playing to win, and he won’t go down without a fight. Unless, of course, it’s a different kind of going down. In that case, he’s fair game.

Edwina and William clash in a rivalry of romance. But what happens when their objects of desire…turn out to be each other?

A Rivalry of Hearts is a spicy standalone adult fantasy romcom in the Fae Flings and Corset Strings series. Every book in this interconnected series is a complete story and ends with a HEA. If you like academic rivals, enemies to lovers, and quirky heroines, then you’ll love this sizzling tale.

The Fae Flings and Corset Strings series is set in the same world as The Fair Isle Trilogy and Entangled with Fae. Journey back to this beloved fae world or fall in love for the first time.]]> 409 Tessonja Odette maria 0 to-read, bookshopping 4.00
author: Tessonja Odette
name: maria
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read, bookshopping
review:

]]> 208840739 We Were Liars meets The Raven Boys in this mind-bending YA debut about dark revenge, twisted desire, and the sinister secrets lurking behind the walls of an elite boarding school.

Seventeen-year-old Marin James has spent her entire life living in the shadow of the exclusive Huntsworth Academy. And when her cousin’s dead body is found in a creek on school property, Marin knows exactly who’s to blame: Adrian Hargraves and Henry Wu, the enigmatic yet dangerously alluring leaders of the school's social elite.

Swapping her ripped jeans for a crisp prep school skirt, Marin infiltrates Huntsworth to seek justice. But her quest is quickly muddied by a confusing attraction to her new life, and to the two dysfunctional and depraved boys who somehow understand her better than anyone ever has.

When Marin uncovers an otherworldly secret the boys are hiding within Huntsworth's ivied gates, the lines between right and wrong, love and hate, and nightmare and reality begin to crumble -- and nothing is as it seems.

Welcome to Huntsworth Academy.]]> 400 Jenni Howell 1250334594 maria 0 to-read 3.37 2025
author: Jenni Howell
name: maria
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221604704 The epic conclusion to the #1 bestselling A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal; the gritty fantasy duology about an orphan girl and her crew who get tangled in a heist with vampires, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.

She's had her tea, now she's out for blood.

White Roaring is sharpening its fangs after the deadly night that left the city in shambles. The press are dead, the public calls for justice, vampires are in danger, and amid the turmoil, the Ram announces a celebration.

Still reeling from the bloodshed, Arthie Casimir has no time to mourn the death of anyone, let alone her own. She has no time for love, either, but it had saved her life. As Arthie navigates new emotions and new allies, she must reassemble her scrambled crew and scrape what little they have left to fight one last time �� and she will need to face the ghosts of her past to do it.

In Ceylan.

After the jaw-dropping ending of #1 bestselling A Tempest of Tea, Arthie and her crew still have plenty of hearts to break and crimson-red secrets to uncover. Hafsah Faizal crafts a deliciously twisty and seductive sequel that will leave readers breathless until the very last page.]]> 448 Hafsah Faizal 037438942X maria 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Hafsah Faizal
name: maria
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216476499
I’d always sensed something peculiar about the reclusive Evergreen Academy, tucked deep in the woods of my hometown. But I never could have imagined it was a college for magical botanists–and that I am one of them.

An invitation to the academy opens up a whole new world of wonder, yet my plant affinity powers remain elusive, and my scientific training is far behind that of my peers.

When I’m assigned a tutor, Callan Rhodes, a powerful descendant of the academy’s founders, I’m baffled by his willingness to help me.

Despite my challenges, I’m enchanted by the academy’s glass schoolhouse, its grounds which are overflowing with plants that defy the climate, and the quirky festivals held each equinox and solstice.

But disaster looms as the verdant shield that protects the academy from the prying eyes of nonmagical people begins to falter. Can Callan and the other founder’s descendants sustain the magic on their own, or will the clock finally start to tick on figuring out my powers?

Elements you'll find in this story:
Magical academy
Plant magic
Small town setting
Cozy fantasy
Light academia
Science-based magic system
Slow burn romance (no spice)
First person POV
An enchanting world
And so much more]]> Heather Schneider maria 0 to-read 4.50 2024
author: Heather Schneider
name: maria
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 123691960
But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons... Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. Inspiring zoo patrons? That's another story. Mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo's most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.

Especially when the hotshot griffin keeper in question just so happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and even more annoyingly insufferable know-it-all with the grace of a goblin and the face of a goddess who's convinced that Aila's beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than as a passive conservation exhibit.

With the world watching and the threat of poachers looming, Aila's success is no longer merely a matter of keeping her job...

She is the keeper of the phoenix, and the future of a species now rests on her shoulders.

There's just one thing she has to remember: she is also not alone.

Against an epic fantasy backdrop teeming with all your favourite mythical beasts from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and krakens, The Phoenix Keeper combines the visceral effervescence of cozy fantasy kings TJ Klune and Travis Baldree with the soul-restoring romance of queer icons Alice Oseman and Casey McQuiston.]]> 400 S.A. MacLean 1399616587 maria 0 to-read 3.98 2024
author: S.A. MacLean
name: maria
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199635125
Sharply observant and outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the touchiest problems of modern life. The seven connected stories seamlessly transition between the personal crises of a complex ensemble and the comic tragedies of sex, relationships, identity, and the internet.

In “The Feminist,�� a young man’s passionate allyship turns to furious nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that it isn’t getting him laid. A young woman’s unrequited crush in “Pics�� spirals into borderline obsession and the systematic destruction of her sense of self. And in “Ahegao; or, The Ballad of Sexual Repression,�� a shy late bloomer’s flailing efforts at a first relationship leads to a life-upending mistake. As the characters pop up in each other’s dating apps and social media feeds, or meet in dimly lit bars and bedrooms, they reveal the ways our delusions can warp our desire for connection.

These brilliant satires explore the underrated sorrows of rejection with the authority of a modern classic and the manic intensity of a manifesto. Audacious and unforgettable, Rejection is a stunning mosaic that redefines what it means to be rejected by lovers, friends, society, and oneself.]]> 272 Tony Tulathimutte 0063337878 maria 3 3.87 2024
author: Tony Tulathimutte
name: maria
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 203578766 The dark and thrillingly romantic debut vampire fantasy that questions what it truly means to sacrifice for love.

You have no idea what I’ve done for love. Just as you have no idea what you may one day do.

Once long ago, a girl named Favre sacrificed her wings for love. Thana, the young goddess she so willingly gave them up for, sacrificed that same love for power. But everything has a cost.

Favre never got over the loss of her wings. And Thana’s choices led to a life of eternal night, and later, their destruction. Favre has bided her time ever since, waiting for the chance to resurrect the girl she loves who turned her into the creature she hates.

Now, a thousand years later, Leyla, the crown princess of the malichora—an ancient race that survives on human blood —must travel to the Island of the Dead when her best friend is captured during an attack on her nation’s capital. Along with Najja, a fierce, beautiful seer, and the last person she expected to help her, Leyla forges down a dangerous path, intent on saving her friend. But nothing is as it seems. The closer she gets to her goal, the more she risks awakening an ancient evil and destroying everything she holds dear.

Set in the aftermath of a war between vampires, humans, and the gods that created them, Patrice Caldwell’s devastatingly romantic fantasy debut, Where Shadows Meet, centers the heart-wrenching pain of loss and the struggle of self-discovery to ask: do we choose our fates, or do our fates choose us?]]> 320 Patrice Caldwell 1250815347 maria 0 to-read 3.28 2025
author: Patrice Caldwell
name: maria
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219797247 Adalyn Grace maria 0 to-read, anticipated-releases 5.00 2026
author: Adalyn Grace
name: maria
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read, anticipated-releases
review:

]]> 210100392 Immerse yourself in the decadent depths of the Belladonna trilogy with this complete set from #1��New York Times��bestselling author Adalyn Grace.
��
The Belladonna Collection allows fans and new readers alike to fully experience a Gothic-infused world of dark mystery and seductive romance. Read them��all��Belladonna,��Foxglove, and��Wisteria—and get ready to fall in love with this deathly irresistible series.]]> 1312 Adalyn Grace 0316582492 maria 0 to-read 4.74
author: Adalyn Grace
name: maria
average rating: 4.74
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218624103 448 T. Kingfisher 1250400228 maria 0 to-read, bookshopping 4.08 2018
author: T. Kingfisher
name: maria
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read, bookshopping
review:

]]> 222532917 The Rose Bargain—a new Victorian-inspired romantasy perfect for fans of Bridgerton, The Selection, and The Cruel Prince.]]> Sasha Peyton Smith 0008729425 maria 4 3.92 2025
author: Sasha Peyton Smith
name: maria
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
“If my favorite story in Faeries of the British Isles was about faerie doors, Lydia’s was about the faerie king…��
]]> 197516588 Two bickering strangers trying to foster their younger siblings team up to create a stable home, but the chemistry between them threatens to undo their plans.

When people-pleasing Chloe learns that her birth mother has unexpectedly had another baby, she doesn’t hesitate to become a next-of-kin guardian. But when she fails to pass Child Protective Services�� financial evaluation, she is faced with a see her baby sister placed in foster care or participate in CPS’s new initiative, where two prospective guardians join households to qualify.

Enter Warren, a surly mechanic’s apprentice attempting to get custody of his deaf fifteen-year-old brother. From the moment Warren drives up thirty minutes late, blasting music out of his car, Chloe is convinced that this is a very bad idea. The two immediately clash but eventually agree to live together for the sake of their younger siblings.

As their lives intertwine, and Chloe adjusts to caring for her newborn sister, she begins to see a new, softer side of Warren. In fact, they’re far more similar than she could have imagined. What started as forced begins to feel natural—and far less lonely. Chemistry soon intensifies beyond what either of them can stand, but is their mutual attraction worth risking everything they’ve fought for?]]> 291 Hannah Bonam-Young 059387210X maria 0 to-read 3.83 2022
author: Hannah Bonam-Young
name: maria
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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