en-US Sun, 20 Apr 2025 20:44:03 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 37794149
Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.]]> 448 Arkady Martine 1529001587 ollie 4 4.08 2019
author: Arkady Martine
name: ollie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/13
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves:
review:
You know it's good when it pulls you out of a 3 month long reading slump
]]> 52378525
Lito val Lucius climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus, but was defeated in combat by none other than Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner, Hiro. When Lito learns that Hiro is both alive and a traitor to the cause, he now has a shot at redemption: track down and kill his former partner. But when he discovers recordings that Hiro secretly made, Lito’s own allegiances are put to the test. Ultimately, he must decide between following orders and following his heart.]]> 352 Linden A. Lewis 198212699X ollie 2 3.83 2020
author: Linden A. Lewis
name: ollie
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 228342376 400 Jasmine Skye 1250872618 ollie 5 to-read
edit 1/20/25
2026 WHAT THE HELL KILL ME ALREADY

Merged review:

pls just gimme it already

edit 1/20/25
2026 WHAT THE HELL KILL ME ALREADY]]> 4.75
author: Jasmine Skye
name: ollie
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: to-read
review:
pls just gimme it already

edit 1/20/25
2026 WHAT THE HELL KILL ME ALREADY

Merged review:

pls just gimme it already

edit 1/20/25
2026 WHAT THE HELL KILL ME ALREADY
]]> 58388343 While we live, the enemy shall fear us.

All her life Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the all-powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the Majoda their victory over humanity.

They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. But when Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.

Alongside her brother’s brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, she escapes from everything she’s ever known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.

A thrillingly told queer space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you, Some Desperate Glory is award-winning author Emily Tesh’s highly anticipated debut novel.]]> 438 Emily Tesh 1250834988 ollie 0 to-read 4.00 2023
author: Emily Tesh
name: ollie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 196774373
Inventing a formula to predict people's perfect partners doesn't equate to love in this contemporary YA novel that New York Times bestsellers Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick call "honest, raw, and breathtakingly real."

College freshman Grace Tang never meant to rewrite the rules of love. She came to college to move on from a grief-stricken senior year and to start anew. So she follows a predictable routine: Attend class, study, go home and visit her dad every weekend. She doesn't leave any room in her life for outliers or anomalies.

Then, Grace comes up with an algorithm for her statistics class to pair students with their perfect romantic partners. Though some people are skeptical, like Julia, Grace's prickly coworker, Grace is confident that her program will take all the drama out of relationships. That's why she keeps trying to make things work with her match, a guy named Jamie. But as the semester goes on and she grows closer to Julia, Grace starts to question who she's really attracted to.

In award-winning author Christina Li's YA debut, Grace will have to make a choice between the tidy equations she knows will protect her from heartbreak or the possibility that true love doesn't follow any formula]]> 400 Christina Li 006324604X ollie 0 to-read 4.11 2024
author: Christina Li
name: ollie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 133518
The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.

Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing. The Things They Carried won France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.]]> 246 Tim O'Brien 0767902890 ollie 5 4.14 1990
author: Tim O'Brien
name: ollie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 211026617 This riveting, superpowered adventure unveils a shadow world of Talented bounty hunters—and plumbs the nature of identity, deadly secrets, and found family.

Tru has been hiding all her life. Her parents taught her to conceal her bastion Talent: indestructible skin, muscles, and bones. In a world where Talents are common and varied, no one trusts a bastion—they’re too powerful. Hiding failed to keep Tru’s parents alive, but moments before their murder, Tru’s mom pointed her to Logan Dire, a famed recluse assassin who adopted and trained orphaned Tru. At seventeen, she’s still hiding. Not even her closest friends know her true name or Talent, or that she’s balancing high school with knife and stealth training (while crushing on her BFF’s older sister). When assassins interrupt a mundane babysitting job booked through BountyApp—where lethal hunters find work and babysitters for their kids—Tru flees with a one-year-old strapped to her chest and spiraling questions: Who killed her parents? Whom can she trust? What does it mean to be a bastion? And is it ever OK to kiss a girl who’s trying to hunt you down? From an award-winning author comes a masterfully plotted thriller that holds character and relationship on a par with action and nail-biting suspense.]]> 320 Natalie C. Parker 153623009X ollie 0 to-read 3.97 2025
author: Natalie C. Parker
name: ollie
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218153897 From the author of Some Girls Do comes a YA sapphic romance about two girls from different sides of the tracks.

Cass has a rule about dating summer girls—just say no. Every year the idyllic beach town Cass's working-class family calls home is flooded with summer girls, the obnoxious daughters of the rich, who stay in their families' summer homes, sail their yachts, and generally make things unbearable for townies like Cass.

Birdie is the ultimate summer girl. She’s the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer dad and a social media influencer mom, and this summer Birdie happens to be in big trouble for accidentally crashing her boyfriend's very expensive car.

As punishment, Birdie must spend the summer with her father at the beach—but it won't be a vacation. He's enlisted the help of Cass, whose dad works for him, to keep Birdie on the straight and narrow, including getting her a job as a beach parking lot attendant.

As the summer heats up, Cass realizes some rules are made to be broken, and Birdie just might be different from other summer girls. Soon they can't help falling for one another . . . But will the love the two girls have discovered be strong enough to overcome their differences?]]> 320 Jennifer Dugan 0593696891 ollie 4 to-read
Casey was a tad bit annoying at first and just overly rude until I remembered what the hell these rich people were taking over their livelihoods they should be more mad. What I don't understand though, is Birdie's dad's character. He's portrayed as one of the "good" rich guys but he's really not doing anything to show it. Troubles of trying to have a "good" rich character ]]> 3.90
author: Jennifer Dugan
name: ollie
average rating: 3.90
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:
cute! classic rich privileged influencer discovers reality with her hard working small town childhood bestie who's now her #1 public enemy, eventually falling in love. but times TEN for Birdie. She really did struggle with being stuck in the image her mother molded her as and not knowing who she was outside of it. She does find out though! Happy endings all around.

Casey was a tad bit annoying at first and just overly rude until I remembered what the hell these rich people were taking over their livelihoods they should be more mad. What I don't understand though, is Birdie's dad's character. He's portrayed as one of the "good" rich guys but he's really not doing anything to show it. Troubles of trying to have a "good" rich character
]]> 24577899 Piano Lessons is a lesbian erotic romance novelette of 12,600 words.]]> 39 Harper Bliss ollie 3 4.06 2015
author: Harper Bliss
name: ollie
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 180176357 Jamie needs a job. Etta needs a sub.

Surely, they can come to some sort of agreement.

Jamie is jobless and down to her last dollar, living in squalor with only a cat to keep her sane. On the day of an important job interview she's spotted by Etta Coleman, the smart and striking billionaire bachelorette who tears through assistants like cheap tissues.

Etta wants her. To be her assistant. To be her submissive.

For six months all Jamie has to do is be at Etta’s beck and call. In the office, in the boardroom... and in the bedroom.
In return, she'll become a millionaire.

They say that every woman has her price. Etta is willing to pay Jamie’s. Now she will enter a decadent world of money, bad jokes, broken hearts, dangerous business partners, and sweet white-collar power.

The moment Jamie signs that billion-dollar contract, she belongs to Etta Coleman. Body... and heart!

This is a sapphic retelling of the 2015 serial THE BILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT by Cynthia Dane. ]]> 433 Cynthia Dane ollie 2 3.92
author: Cynthia Dane
name: ollie
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 56179356
Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.]]> 119 Alix E. Harrow 1250765358 ollie 5 3.58 2021
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: ollie
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 40097951
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.]]> 336 Alex Michaelides 1250301696 ollie 5 4.17 2019
author: Alex Michaelides
name: ollie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 35522836
Darby Thorne is a college student stranded by a blizzard at a highway rest stop in the middle of nowhere. She’s on the way home to see her sick mother. She’ll have to spend the night in the rest stop with four complete strangers. Then she stumbles across a little girl locked inside one of their parked cars.

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, no way out because of the snow, and she doesn’t know which one of the other travelers is the kidnapper.

Who is the little girl? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?]]> 287 Taylor Adams 1912106760 ollie 5 3.98 2017
author: Taylor Adams
name: ollie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 24724627
But freedom is a poor match against a lifetime of psychological damage. As Cassie plumbs the depths of her new surroundings, the startling truths she uncovers about her own family narrative make it impossible to cut the tethers of a tumultuous past. And when the unhealthy mother-daughter relationship that defined Cassie’s childhood and adolescence threatens to pull her under once again, Cassie must decide: whose version of history is real? And more important, whose life must she save?]]> 352 Kerry Kletter 0399171037 ollie 5 3.98 2016
author: Kerry Kletter
name: ollie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 39011062
But Ieflaria is desperately in need of help from Rhodia for their dragon problem, so Esofi is offered a new betrothal to Prince Albion's younger sister, the new Crown Princess Adale. But Adale has no plans of taking the throne, leaving Esofi with more to battle than fire-breathing beasts.]]> 182 Effie Calvin 1948608138 ollie 5 fantasy it was gay, everybody is pan, theres kitties and unicorns and dragons and what more could i want in a fantasy wlw book
however the book was really short and i def would have liked it better with more pages]]> 3.70 2018
author: Effie Calvin
name: ollie
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: fantasy
review:
this was the goofiest thing ive ever read in my entire life but im here for it
it was gay, everybody is pan, theres kitties and unicorns and dragons and what more could i want in a fantasy wlw book
however the book was really short and i def would have liked it better with more pages
]]> 207567782 For readers of Nightbitch and We Ride Upon Sticks, this strange and sexy novel of queer love in a small town is an unsettling reminder that the horrors of modern life are monsters ready to possess us all.

In the valley at the intersection of three towering mountains sits Cadenze, an ugly, remote town with little to its name. It's filled with tourists in the summer and dead the rest of the year, when most of its residents surrender to a sleepier existence. Except, that is, for whatever is lurking in the caves...

Angelina Sicco was born and raised in Cadenze, and for many generations, so was every member of her family. Determined to be content with her lot in life, she walks her mongrel dog, attends her brother's heavy metal concerts, holds court in the local dive bar, and does everything she can to bait hot, queer women to her sleepy, conservative hometown. But on the night of a family party much like every other, Angelina runs into Patrick's ex, the sternly handsome Jagvi, who's back in town for a spell. Perhaps enticed by Jagvi’s arrival, an ancient evil lying dormant in those caves is awakened, and soon Angelina’s small, contained world begins to shatter.

As the monstrous force grows bolder, it infiltrates Angelina’s life. It talks with her dog’s mouth; it guzzles on her memories; it controls Angelina from the inside. Only Jagvi’s touch repels it � the final trigger for a secret, passionate romance. But this monster feasts on all the passion, heartbreak, and mess that makes up a life, and Angelina Sicco’s life has never looked tastier. What will Angelina do to protect her future? And what will it cost her?]]> 304 Mikaella Clements 153874225X ollie 0 to-read 3.89 2024
author: Mikaella Clements
name: ollie
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217388071 Ms. and Ms. Smith meets The Pairing in this heart-racing romance of secrets, spies, and steam.

A few rules for the international superspy:

(1) Never blow your cover.
(2) Never accept the first plan.
(3) Never fall for anyone at the agency. Especially if she’s your ex-girlfriend.

Second-generation spy Yardley Whitmer, code name “the Unicorn,� can do no wrong. With her combination of debutante-style charm and expert spycraft, she’s become an instant legend in the field. If only finally moving out of her girlfriend’s home were as easy as rappelling off the Eiffel Tower. But living a full-time cover story has slowly eroded her relationship with KC until there’s nothing left but lies.

KC “Tabasco� Nolan, hacker extraordinaire, can crack anything—except the code that would tell her the right moment to confess her secret job to Yardley. Now it’s too late, and she’s in danger of losing the best chance at love she’s ever had.

When an undercover shakedown goes wrong, Yardley and KC discover the unbelievable truth—that they are Unicorn and Tabasco, and they’ve both been working with the agency for years. To salvage the mission, they’re compelled to partner up and fly across oceans, race through winding European streets, and give in to inconvenient passion while hiding in an ambassador’s linen closet. But can they throw away their Plan A and fight through the betrayal and secrets to fall in love with each other’s true selves?]]> 352 Mae Marvel 1250894700 ollie 4
Yardley and KC have broken up after a 3-year relationship because of their busy schedules. Yardley is a finance bro and KC is a web designer of some sort. SIKE. Yardley and KC have broken up after a 3-year relationship because of the weight of the secret lives they don't even know are hiding from each other. Yardley is a super spy known as the Unicorn and KC is a tech genius known as Tabasco, both secretly working at the same spy agency without knowing their real identities. When Yardley and KC are put into a mission together, secrets come flying out into the open and they have to decide if it's enough to save their relationship. At the same time, a super scary world-shut-down skeleton key weapon is unleashed into the wild and Yardley and KC have to work together to retrieve it.

Funny and cute I gotta say. Definitely not meant to be an accurate portrayal of espionage, but that's what kept me interested! I think it was (hopefully) meant like that in a comedic way. Yardley and KC as the main characters have to be at the center of all the conflict despite KC having literally no field-training whatsoever yet being a natural at it. Help conveniently pops up when they need it. And they have time for jokes in between hijacking a military tank and dodging enemy fire. An exciting read if anything!

A few cons though:

-there was some awkward detail-sharing here and there. Author definitely liked to give us lengthy details of character's backstories in long unbroken dialogues at the oddest of times. Disrupted the reading flow a little bit but it wasn't unbearable
-Yardley and KC had a truckload of back and forth 1 step forward and 3 steps back arguments I could just never follow along. It was like what they were saying had a different essence each time and they were just flinging large blocks of dialogue at each other so I just started skimming them. If you skim them, then yes, it's also not unbearable!

But I digress. Because really, truly, at the heart of it all, this book was about fighting for love because it's worth it. It's about taking a risk and loving despite the possibility of being hurt, of giving and giving because isn't it better to have known love at all, for however short, than not at all? AND YES IT IS. Even if it took Yardley and KC fifty thousand half-assed arguments to get to that point, they get there.

And these quotes! Oh my heart:

"KC wished one of the monitors could show what was inside her heart. She wanted Yardley to see exactly how big her love was, with a number. A number that meant no woman had been loved more on this earth than Yardley Whitmer."

"KC closed her eyes and fell asleep with Yardley's kiss gentle on her mouth, her cheeks, her forehead, glad they'd saved the world because Yardley was in it."

So overall, a light-hearted at times but heavy-hearted at others read. Clunky writing sometimes but it can be overlooked. 4/5. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.]]> 3.79 2025
author: Mae Marvel
name: ollie
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:
A sapphic spy x hacker lovestory with a Mr. and Mrs. Smith storyline??? YES

Yardley and KC have broken up after a 3-year relationship because of their busy schedules. Yardley is a finance bro and KC is a web designer of some sort. SIKE. Yardley and KC have broken up after a 3-year relationship because of the weight of the secret lives they don't even know are hiding from each other. Yardley is a super spy known as the Unicorn and KC is a tech genius known as Tabasco, both secretly working at the same spy agency without knowing their real identities. When Yardley and KC are put into a mission together, secrets come flying out into the open and they have to decide if it's enough to save their relationship. At the same time, a super scary world-shut-down skeleton key weapon is unleashed into the wild and Yardley and KC have to work together to retrieve it.

Funny and cute I gotta say. Definitely not meant to be an accurate portrayal of espionage, but that's what kept me interested! I think it was (hopefully) meant like that in a comedic way. Yardley and KC as the main characters have to be at the center of all the conflict despite KC having literally no field-training whatsoever yet being a natural at it. Help conveniently pops up when they need it. And they have time for jokes in between hijacking a military tank and dodging enemy fire. An exciting read if anything!

A few cons though:

-there was some awkward detail-sharing here and there. Author definitely liked to give us lengthy details of character's backstories in long unbroken dialogues at the oddest of times. Disrupted the reading flow a little bit but it wasn't unbearable
-Yardley and KC had a truckload of back and forth 1 step forward and 3 steps back arguments I could just never follow along. It was like what they were saying had a different essence each time and they were just flinging large blocks of dialogue at each other so I just started skimming them. If you skim them, then yes, it's also not unbearable!

But I digress. Because really, truly, at the heart of it all, this book was about fighting for love because it's worth it. It's about taking a risk and loving despite the possibility of being hurt, of giving and giving because isn't it better to have known love at all, for however short, than not at all? AND YES IT IS. Even if it took Yardley and KC fifty thousand half-assed arguments to get to that point, they get there.

And these quotes! Oh my heart:

"KC wished one of the monitors could show what was inside her heart. She wanted Yardley to see exactly how big her love was, with a number. A number that meant no woman had been loved more on this earth than Yardley Whitmer."

"KC closed her eyes and fell asleep with Yardley's kiss gentle on her mouth, her cheeks, her forehead, glad they'd saved the world because Yardley was in it."

So overall, a light-hearted at times but heavy-hearted at others read. Clunky writing sometimes but it can be overlooked. 4/5. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 213682838 Lyssa can't resist a damsel in distress…but she'll wish she resisted this one.

The ferocious Styx Syndicate enforcer and trainer known as "the Wolf" has always been the hunter, never the hunted. So when Lyssa sees the gorgeous Scarlett getting harassed by thugs in a dive bar she's visiting for intel, she jumps straight into protective mode.

But Lyssa soon discovers that not every damsel needs saving.

And sometimes, wolves wear sheep's clothing�

Lyssa thought she'd buried her past, but now it's rushing back with a vengeance—literally. Scarlett has a score to settle, and she’s not going to back off.

The Styx Syndicate wants Scarlett dead. But Lyssa sees potential in her nemesis—and maybe something more. Something Lyssa has never allowed herself to want.

Something forbidden.

Can Lyssa persuade the Syndicate to give Scarlett a chance? Or will she follow orders like she always has, and destroy the one person who makes her feel like something more than a monster?


Thrown to the Wolves is part one of the Red Rivals Duet, a twisty, steamy contemporary Sapphic mafia romance based (very) loosely on the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale. Reader discretion is advised, and content notes are available on the Copyright page.]]> 252 Persephone Black ollie 4 4.41 2024
author: Persephone Black
name: ollie
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 51328082 259 Monica McCallan ollie 0 4.33 2020
author: Monica McCallan
name: ollie
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 208581376
Genna isn’t what you’d call a people person. Breaking the rules and compromising her objectivity by helping a participant with real-life problems? Hard no. She’s not capable and not qualified. But Rowan won’t be deterred, and Genna has to learn to apply her findings in a clinical setting or risk losing a prestigious grant.

As one intimate confession leads to another, and the professional blurs into the personal, powerful attraction threatens to overwhelm their better judgment. How far are they willing to go, and how much will they risk to make their most captivating and forbidden fantasies a reality?]]> 312 Sandy Lowe 1636794262 ollie 4
Genna (or Dr. Sex by Rowan) is researching feminism's impact on women's sexual fantasies (woah omg tell me the results). Rowan desperately needs help getting rid of the fantasies she finds twisted but keeps coming back to night after night. They meet, there's insta-lust that quickly becomes romance, and bam that's the story. EXCEPT IT ISN'T. Both women also struggle with hecka deep trauma from their childhoods and mommy daddy issues that they can't get past. Genna is also very anti-romance sex is all there is for me while Rowan believes in soul-mates and monogamy even very early on when they were still in a situationship. Genna and Rowan gotta work to compromise and communicate to make their relationship work.

I gotta say I loved Genna early on. Growing up with an agoraphobic mom and needing to take care of her younger siblings, Genna develops crazy mommy issues that show up in her adult life as never being able to rely on anyone. Rowan on the other hand only ever wants to be able to take care of someone, stemming from a sense of failure of not being able to save her family's deli and keep her sister out of jail. The book explores trauma well and how it shows up in our everyday lives in ways we don't even know.

BUT. Despite their deliciously in-depth backgrounds, the characters weren't all that in-depth. They're inconsistent in behavior, super steadfast about something one moment and switching up the next. I found they were both massive hypocrites! I don't think it's enough to not read this book, but it did make it hard to push through at some points. And I really didn't like Rowan's incessant pushing that Genna give up her favorite go-to bar for sex when they weren't even dating yet. Let's just say they both had flaws but whatever at least they like each other. I'm also kinda sad we didn't get to see more of Genna's sex study. Pretty early on it becomes nonexistent and the main issue transitions to their clashing beliefs. But hell I'm interested too why didn't the epilogue contain her study results???? Whatever I can google it on my own.

Anyway solid read about two mature adults trying to love each other while dealing with their separate traumas. 3.5/5]]> 3.70
author: Sandy Lowe
name: ollie
average rating: 3.70
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:
a sex researcher and her subject fall in lurve!

Genna (or Dr. Sex by Rowan) is researching feminism's impact on women's sexual fantasies (woah omg tell me the results). Rowan desperately needs help getting rid of the fantasies she finds twisted but keeps coming back to night after night. They meet, there's insta-lust that quickly becomes romance, and bam that's the story. EXCEPT IT ISN'T. Both women also struggle with hecka deep trauma from their childhoods and mommy daddy issues that they can't get past. Genna is also very anti-romance sex is all there is for me while Rowan believes in soul-mates and monogamy even very early on when they were still in a situationship. Genna and Rowan gotta work to compromise and communicate to make their relationship work.

I gotta say I loved Genna early on. Growing up with an agoraphobic mom and needing to take care of her younger siblings, Genna develops crazy mommy issues that show up in her adult life as never being able to rely on anyone. Rowan on the other hand only ever wants to be able to take care of someone, stemming from a sense of failure of not being able to save her family's deli and keep her sister out of jail. The book explores trauma well and how it shows up in our everyday lives in ways we don't even know.

BUT. Despite their deliciously in-depth backgrounds, the characters weren't all that in-depth. They're inconsistent in behavior, super steadfast about something one moment and switching up the next. I found they were both massive hypocrites! I don't think it's enough to not read this book, but it did make it hard to push through at some points. And I really didn't like Rowan's incessant pushing that Genna give up her favorite go-to bar for sex when they weren't even dating yet. Let's just say they both had flaws but whatever at least they like each other. I'm also kinda sad we didn't get to see more of Genna's sex study. Pretty early on it becomes nonexistent and the main issue transitions to their clashing beliefs. But hell I'm interested too why didn't the epilogue contain her study results???? Whatever I can google it on my own.

Anyway solid read about two mature adults trying to love each other while dealing with their separate traumas. 3.5/5
]]> 58541411 This funny opposites-attract lesbian romance digs up the awkward truth about what really matters in life.

Ambitious ice queen and corporate lawyer Felicity Simmons has spent her life focused on one thing: scuttling up the career ladder. She’s achingly close to taking charge of a media empire for her boss when she’s sent to investigate a South Bronx charity that helps homeless people’s pets.

Has the charity made off with her boss’s generous donation? And who on earth is that gorgeous soft-butch veterinarian who looks as if she could toss a Shetland pony over one shoulder? Not that Felicity has any interest in some opinionated Amazon or her adorable fleabag of a dog.

Felicity is quite sure she will not be distracted, thank you very much. She has a minor mystery to solve, a mentor to impress, and her life’s dream to fulfil. Even if a distraction might be exactly what she needs.]]> Lee Winter ollie 0 to-read 4.21 2021
author: Lee Winter
name: ollie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218078948
Ollie Gabrielli left Ribbonwood right after high school, back when Lara was her arch-nemesis. The queen bee and the closeted soccer star: natural enemies. When she comes home for three months it's to recover from burnout and spend time with her chaotic family, not to reconnect with old classmates. Only somehow, she can’t seem to take her eyes off Lara. How did she only get hotter? And is she really everything they say she is?

Sometimes, there’s a reason you should never try to go home.]]> 406 Ruby Landers 0648640280 ollie 5 talented-brilliant-incredible 4.56
author: Ruby Landers
name: ollie
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
why does the Australian sapphic literature always hit so fucking hard??? also taylor swift's Last Great American Dynasty and No body, no crime are literally so fitting for this book idk what to say.
]]> 78627220 A sweet sapphic romance takes a deadly dark turn in this sharp-as-a-knife novella from the New York Times bestselling author.

Rosemary meets Ash at the farmers� market. Ash—precise, pretty, and practically perfect—sells bars of soap in delicate pastel colors, sprinkle-spackled cupcakes stacked on scalloped stands, beeswax candles, jelly jars of honey, and glossy green plants. Ro has never felt this way about another woman; with Ash, she wants to be her and have her in equal measure. But as her obsession with Ash consumes her, she may find she’s not the one doing the devouring…]]> 203 Delilah S. Dawson ollie 3
spoilers below but i mean you kinda figure it out in the synopsis anyway:

ro considers herself very flawed. ash, a baker she meets at the farmers market, is considered basically flawless. ro falls in love. so in love, that she is just severely dangerously optometrically IMPAIRED to ash's many many many many red flags. red flags the color of BLOOD. oh she just calmly violently bashed a racoon to death in front of my eyes? but she's just so pretty and she took a chance on ME. she can't be crazy!

from the very moment we find out ash's first bizarre STOP TURN AROUND warning signs it was pretty obvious how the rest of the book would play out. there was no thrillerness except for at the end when ro is just like oh yeah she took my legs. so predictable it felt like i was just yelling at ro to please use her eyes the entire book.

it's not like it was a TERRIBLE book. the english was englishing the pace was pacing the storytelling was storytelling. i mean the red flags were also red flagging but i guess just not enough for ro. anyway 2/5. i think one main sex scene and then implied later on. 13+
]]> 3.82 2023
author: Delilah S. Dawson
name: ollie
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
probably the most boring book ive read all year! if you wanna read a supposed horror thriller novel with a plot and ending so predictable god must have written it in stone centuries ago then this books is just great for you.

spoilers below but i mean you kinda figure it out in the synopsis anyway:

ro considers herself very flawed. ash, a baker she meets at the farmers market, is considered basically flawless. ro falls in love. so in love, that she is just severely dangerously optometrically IMPAIRED to ash's many many many many red flags. red flags the color of BLOOD. oh she just calmly violently bashed a racoon to death in front of my eyes? but she's just so pretty and she took a chance on ME. she can't be crazy!

from the very moment we find out ash's first bizarre STOP TURN AROUND warning signs it was pretty obvious how the rest of the book would play out. there was no thrillerness except for at the end when ro is just like oh yeah she took my legs. so predictable it felt like i was just yelling at ro to please use her eyes the entire book.

it's not like it was a TERRIBLE book. the english was englishing the pace was pacing the storytelling was storytelling. i mean the red flags were also red flagging but i guess just not enough for ro. anyway 2/5. i think one main sex scene and then implied later on. 13+

]]> 51530580 A princess isn’t supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this darkly magical retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,� true love is more than a simple fairy tale.

Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss.

You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily-ever-after.

Utter nonsense.

Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care, either.

Until I met her.

Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though it was a power like mine that was responsible for her curse.

But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating—and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps, together, we could forge a new world.

Nonsense again.

Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I�

I am the villain.]]> 470 Heather Walter 1984818651 ollie 5 fantasy
taking place in a world where some kids are just born w golden blood meaning they have magic they can access through potions containing said blood, alyce was ostracized for being born with black blood that seems to only be able to curse and do bad. introducing princess aurora who might die within a year unless she finds + kisses her one true love bc of a curse placed on her bloodline a bajillion years ago by someone like alyce. aurora decides to turn to alyce for help, completely shocking her since alyce has the rep for doing the complete opposite of helping. AND THEN THEY FALL IN LURVE.

honestly this has so much potential and the way walter wrote it was promising. it really hit on the idea of preconceived good vs. bad and what exactly defines who/what fits into that. can you really categorize ppl like that? is anyone fully good or bad? GREAT themes. it was just written in a bald juvenile sort of way that can't keep me captivated anymore (i tried rereading this summer) and it feels like it kinda lost that initial magic to me now. there was also a sex scene that was quite the contrast to the very YA almost children's book writing.

still the second book absolutely hit for me with the even stronger what defines good + bad theme and when does someone go too far. so even if this first book was juvenile for you, id say stick around for the second. the second was absolutely phenomenally revolutionary for 8th grade me and it changed the way i looked at ppl.

3.5/5 for the sentimental value and 9+ except the one sex scene that was still very vague.]]> 3.92 2021
author: Heather Walter
name: ollie
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy
review:
a sleeping beauty retelling where the princess ends up with the villain???? yes PLEASE. and so I absolutely devoured this book then the sequel.

taking place in a world where some kids are just born w golden blood meaning they have magic they can access through potions containing said blood, alyce was ostracized for being born with black blood that seems to only be able to curse and do bad. introducing princess aurora who might die within a year unless she finds + kisses her one true love bc of a curse placed on her bloodline a bajillion years ago by someone like alyce. aurora decides to turn to alyce for help, completely shocking her since alyce has the rep for doing the complete opposite of helping. AND THEN THEY FALL IN LURVE.

honestly this has so much potential and the way walter wrote it was promising. it really hit on the idea of preconceived good vs. bad and what exactly defines who/what fits into that. can you really categorize ppl like that? is anyone fully good or bad? GREAT themes. it was just written in a bald juvenile sort of way that can't keep me captivated anymore (i tried rereading this summer) and it feels like it kinda lost that initial magic to me now. there was also a sex scene that was quite the contrast to the very YA almost children's book writing.

still the second book absolutely hit for me with the even stronger what defines good + bad theme and when does someone go too far. so even if this first book was juvenile for you, id say stick around for the second. the second was absolutely phenomenally revolutionary for 8th grade me and it changed the way i looked at ppl.

3.5/5 for the sentimental value and 9+ except the one sex scene that was still very vague.
]]> 44778083
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it.

With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom-and the power of love.]]> 803 Sarah J. Maas 1635574048 ollie 5 fantasy
i like basically exploded because as a reader who has read every single thing sjm has put out since elementary school, it was the most epic moment of my reading life. it wasn’t actually a full crossover, more like certain objects from her other book series were referenced in this one but still. it was an opening for a crossover.

so bryce’s bestie was brutally murdered years ago and now another murder with the same style happens so she’s asked to help with the investigation. this takes place in a modern fantasy world so there’s phones and there’s also magic. and ofc there’s fae. also humans, faun, mermaids, and all the other fun stuff that comes with fantasy! it was just so colorful. there’s also these godly super asteri ppl who basically act like the rulers and as bryce goes deeper into the investigation, it gets real obvious there’s some shady stuff happening up there w/ the untouchables. and like with tog, there were crazy redefining life changing plot twists we really should have seen coming and then an absolute ass crack splitting ground shaking heart rendering end that i thought about for months. talk ab drama. this book was full of it. also the trademark sjm royalty reveal at the end ]]> 4.43 2020
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: ollie
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy
review:
when i say i need sjm to go back to her tog writing this is what i mean. the fantasy. the story. the characters (some of them). the jelly jubilee unicorn figurines. the angst. THE FREAKING CROSSOVER TO HER OTHER BOOK SERIES!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i like basically exploded because as a reader who has read every single thing sjm has put out since elementary school, it was the most epic moment of my reading life. it wasn’t actually a full crossover, more like certain objects from her other book series were referenced in this one but still. it was an opening for a crossover.

so bryce’s bestie was brutally murdered years ago and now another murder with the same style happens so she’s asked to help with the investigation. this takes place in a modern fantasy world so there’s phones and there’s also magic. and ofc there’s fae. also humans, faun, mermaids, and all the other fun stuff that comes with fantasy! it was just so colorful. there’s also these godly super asteri ppl who basically act like the rulers and as bryce goes deeper into the investigation, it gets real obvious there’s some shady stuff happening up there w/ the untouchables. and like with tog, there were crazy redefining life changing plot twists we really should have seen coming and then an absolute ass crack splitting ground shaking heart rendering end that i thought about for months. talk ab drama. this book was full of it. also the trademark sjm royalty reveal at the end
]]> 59225570 ASIN moved from less recent edition

Rival reporters team up for the story of their careers in this lesbian romantic suspense filled with humor, twists, and one fierce ice queen.


Ambitious Daily Sentinel journalist Lauren King is chafing on LA’s vapid social circuit, reporting on glam, A-list parties while sparring with her rival—the formidable, icy Catherine Ayers.

Ayers is an ex-Washington DC political correspondent who suffered a humiliating fall from grace, and her acerbic tongue keeps everyone at bay. Everyone, that is, except knockabout Iowa girl King, who is undaunted, unimpressed and gives as good as she gets.

One night a curious story unfolds before their eyes: One business launch, 34 prostitutes and a pallet of missing pink champagne.

What on earth does it mean? King and Ayers join forces but they might find a lot more than just a passion for news on the dusty road to Nevada.]]> 386 Lee Winter 3955333310 ollie 4 talented-brilliant-incredible
ex-legendary political journalist catherine is bitter and sharp tongued after an embarrassing fall from fame. stuck in mindless entertainment writing with ambitious reporter lauren, catherine aches to get back to the top of her game. when lauren discovers an interesting pool of ppl at a launch party for a new government banking system and realizes there could be a real story behind it, catherine wants in. they embark on road/business trip to nevada to figure stuff out and the deeper they get, the more they realize someone is trying to tell them a secret, orchestrating all this from bts to ring alarm bells. toss in some pretty powerful ppl who dont want anyone knowing, ignorant sexist bosses favoring censorship over free media, and some romance and you have a quality lee winter novel.

and the "ice queen" enemies to lovers thing wasn't that cringey! granted i'm not sure i've ever read an argument between an ice queen and their polar opposite that didn't come off as just immature squabbling (especially since they're both 30+ i think) but this didn't do TOO bad. i've definitely read worse. slightly insta-lust but still slow-burn. Age-gap maybe around 10 years i dont really remember. it’s also kinda heavy on the US politics so you might want to have a some basis on how that works. some friendship inconsistencies i didn't like but i glazed over bc the plot unraveling was too good to slow down for. AND THAT EPILOGUE. i love when authors basically give us free fluff fanfiction of their own characters in the epilogue.

4/5 and 13+ since there is at least one sex scene.]]> 4.35 2015
author: Lee Winter
name: ollie
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
lesbian journalists. 34 prostitutes. missing champagne. and a loose $100k that would have been used to pay off corrupt politicians. lee winter does it again with her signature mystery storyline and ice queen trope. idk why it took me so long to finally get this book off my tbr.

ex-legendary political journalist catherine is bitter and sharp tongued after an embarrassing fall from fame. stuck in mindless entertainment writing with ambitious reporter lauren, catherine aches to get back to the top of her game. when lauren discovers an interesting pool of ppl at a launch party for a new government banking system and realizes there could be a real story behind it, catherine wants in. they embark on road/business trip to nevada to figure stuff out and the deeper they get, the more they realize someone is trying to tell them a secret, orchestrating all this from bts to ring alarm bells. toss in some pretty powerful ppl who dont want anyone knowing, ignorant sexist bosses favoring censorship over free media, and some romance and you have a quality lee winter novel.

and the "ice queen" enemies to lovers thing wasn't that cringey! granted i'm not sure i've ever read an argument between an ice queen and their polar opposite that didn't come off as just immature squabbling (especially since they're both 30+ i think) but this didn't do TOO bad. i've definitely read worse. slightly insta-lust but still slow-burn. Age-gap maybe around 10 years i dont really remember. it’s also kinda heavy on the US politics so you might want to have a some basis on how that works. some friendship inconsistencies i didn't like but i glazed over bc the plot unraveling was too good to slow down for. AND THAT EPILOGUE. i love when authors basically give us free fluff fanfiction of their own characters in the epilogue.

4/5 and 13+ since there is at least one sex scene.
]]> 39713593 375 Anna Burke 1612941192 ollie 5
sapphic as frick
poc as the entire cast (or i just imagined them that way i dont really remember)
futuristic sci-fi as in the world is fricked
super special cool mc
BUFF love interest / mc
themes of finding freedom in adventure
PIRACY

idk man it was just epic. AND THIS QUOTE:

“But you have to remember where to put the blame.�
“On the Archipelago?�
“No, actually. On our fucking ancestors. They evolved in a world perfectly calibrated for their survival, and they broke it. We’re all just trying to survive. Even the seas-damned Archipelago.�

so yeah it’s epic and you should read it. in the year 2513, the sea has taken over the world. the archipelago is the closest thing to a government they have left in the (im guessing) western region and compass rose works for them as a navigator since she’s just innately super good at it. her commander sends her on a mission to work for a mega famous mercenary captain miranda to find out more ab these pirates that are attacking the archipelago. so basically rose is a free mercenary for some time and bonds with her crew and finds her place and falls in love (lust really) with miranda. there’s action, drama, violence and all that fun stuff.

only a few cons: we never really get to see how or why rose suddenly likes miranda it was very tell not show. rose really did have more page-time and chemistry with miranda’s first mate orca but whatever they worked it out ish. also never got to see how or why rose suddenly feels connected to miranda’s crew that was also tell not show. but i liked the book anyway!

SIDE NOTE this is an ongoing series. the second book has been out since 2021 but we haven’t heard anything ab the next book. this series will be finished tho bc i decree it ]]> 4.28 2018
author: Anna Burke
name: ollie
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
so basically it’s amazing and you need to read it. idk how i’ve gone so long without this book showing up on my radar it has every single trope i love:

sapphic as frick
poc as the entire cast (or i just imagined them that way i dont really remember)
futuristic sci-fi as in the world is fricked
super special cool mc
BUFF love interest / mc
themes of finding freedom in adventure
PIRACY

idk man it was just epic. AND THIS QUOTE:

“But you have to remember where to put the blame.�
“On the Archipelago?�
“No, actually. On our fucking ancestors. They evolved in a world perfectly calibrated for their survival, and they broke it. We’re all just trying to survive. Even the seas-damned Archipelago.�

so yeah it’s epic and you should read it. in the year 2513, the sea has taken over the world. the archipelago is the closest thing to a government they have left in the (im guessing) western region and compass rose works for them as a navigator since she’s just innately super good at it. her commander sends her on a mission to work for a mega famous mercenary captain miranda to find out more ab these pirates that are attacking the archipelago. so basically rose is a free mercenary for some time and bonds with her crew and finds her place and falls in love (lust really) with miranda. there’s action, drama, violence and all that fun stuff.

only a few cons: we never really get to see how or why rose suddenly likes miranda it was very tell not show. rose really did have more page-time and chemistry with miranda’s first mate orca but whatever they worked it out ish. also never got to see how or why rose suddenly feels connected to miranda’s crew that was also tell not show. but i liked the book anyway!

SIDE NOTE this is an ongoing series. the second book has been out since 2021 but we haven’t heard anything ab the next book. this series will be finished tho bc i decree it
]]> 205762592 For fans of� The Princess Bride and Gideon the Ninth: a bloody� lesbian revenge tale and political fantasy set in a glittering world transformed by industrial change � and simmering class warfare.

Ichorite is progress. More durable and malleable than steel, ichorite is the lifeblood of a dawning industrial revolution. Yann I. Chauncey owns the sole means of manufacturing this valuable metal, but his workers, who risk their health and safety daily, are on strike. They demand Chauncey research the hallucinatory illness befalling them, a condition they call “being lustertouched.� Marney Honeycutt, a lustertouched child worker, stands proud at the picket line with her best friend and family. That’s when Chauncey sends in the guns. Only Marney survives the massacre. She vows bloody vengeance. A decade later, Marney is the nation’s most notorious highwayman, and Chauncey’s daughter seeks an opportune marriage. Marney’s rage and the ghosts of her past will drive her to masquerade as an aristocrat, outmaneuver powerful suitors, and win the heart of his daughter, so Marney can finally corner Chauncey and satisfy her need for revenge. But war ferments in the north, and deeper grudges are surfacing. . .

H. A. Clarke’s adult fantasy debut, writing as August Clarke, Metal from Heaven is a punk-rock murder ballad tackling labor issues and radical empowerment against the relentless grind of capitalism.]]> 448 August Clarke 1645660982 ollie 5 talented-brilliant-incredible
i don’t know how to sum up this book the synopsis does it way better than i could. basically marney wants to kill chauncey this entire time and impersonates a baron’s daughter to get close to/marry chauncey’s daughter to get close to chauncey. but it goes way deeper than that since there are other marriage prospects for chauncey and all of them basically mean war. and then it goes even deeper than that! religion is a big theme especially the hall you hail from with different halls having different philosophies of how the world came to be and what just BEING means and life and everything and really just everything. if this is confusing im so sorry art can only be summed up with art and i do not have that capacity. however! fully in my capabilities is making a general list of stuff in this book that really shone through

so. freaking. WUH. LUH. WUH. i actually weeped from the beauty and prominence of it, really made me irrationally happy. crawlies everywhere!
sexy but in a grubby sort of way?
found family
bachelorette as in chauncey’s daughter holds a contest to pick someone to marry
special power mc
thievery! conning! violence!
actually morally gray characters. so morally gray they were actually black!

i think tho that what’s real prominent ab this book is not the plot or the story. it’s the writing style. i feel like the writing style WAS the story. it’s poetic, rambly, adjective heavy, so much showing it becomes the telling, lyrical, musical, art. really just fancy historical diction. did my brain have to do cartwheels to understand some sentences? yes. is that a bad thing? oh far from it.

but! it was hard to read at some points that i had to pause for a sec. when you write in a rambly sorta way, loooooong paragraphs with few paragraph breaks is not the way to go. you really have to focus in for a book like this. and i will be honest i did not understand a single word of the last two chapters. im really sorry clarke ik it was a type of art im just not that smart ]]> 3.91 2024
author: August Clarke
name: ollie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
what a freaking book. i really don’t know where to begin with this one. all i know is this book was the perfect balance between literary art and the ramblings of a madman. im honestly just really sad im not intellectual enough to fully appreciate it.

i don’t know how to sum up this book the synopsis does it way better than i could. basically marney wants to kill chauncey this entire time and impersonates a baron’s daughter to get close to/marry chauncey’s daughter to get close to chauncey. but it goes way deeper than that since there are other marriage prospects for chauncey and all of them basically mean war. and then it goes even deeper than that! religion is a big theme especially the hall you hail from with different halls having different philosophies of how the world came to be and what just BEING means and life and everything and really just everything. if this is confusing im so sorry art can only be summed up with art and i do not have that capacity. however! fully in my capabilities is making a general list of stuff in this book that really shone through

so. freaking. WUH. LUH. WUH. i actually weeped from the beauty and prominence of it, really made me irrationally happy. crawlies everywhere!
sexy but in a grubby sort of way?
found family
bachelorette as in chauncey’s daughter holds a contest to pick someone to marry
special power mc
thievery! conning! violence!
actually morally gray characters. so morally gray they were actually black!

i think tho that what’s real prominent ab this book is not the plot or the story. it’s the writing style. i feel like the writing style WAS the story. it’s poetic, rambly, adjective heavy, so much showing it becomes the telling, lyrical, musical, art. really just fancy historical diction. did my brain have to do cartwheels to understand some sentences? yes. is that a bad thing? oh far from it.

but! it was hard to read at some points that i had to pause for a sec. when you write in a rambly sorta way, loooooong paragraphs with few paragraph breaks is not the way to go. you really have to focus in for a book like this. and i will be honest i did not understand a single word of the last two chapters. im really sorry clarke ik it was a type of art im just not that smart
]]> 44650326 if she hadn’t fallen in love first. 

Now Ayla has pledged her allegiance to Queen Junn, who can help accomplish the human rebellion’s ultimate goal: destroy the Iron Heart. Without its power, the Automae will be weakened to the point of extinction. Ayla wants to succeed, but can’t shake the strong feelings she’s developed for Crier. And unbeknownst to her, Crier has also fled the palace, taking up among traveling rebels, determined to find and protect Ayla.

Even as their paths collide, nothing can prepare them for the dark secret underlying the Iron Heart.]]> 400 Nina Varela ollie 3
Ayla and Crier are now separated and running away. Crier escapes her marriage and now wants to find the truth of her K-dude’s warden Iron Heart business and also find Ayla. She masks as human and joins some human rebels on the way, bonding very cutely with them. Ayla is running to the crazy queen’s land and her brother and they also plan a way to take down the Iron Heart stuff. Ayla and Crier reunite there. Stuff happens. Big reveal about the Iron Heart. Also the story is told through some flashbacks of Ayla’s family that lead up to the big reveal. Very cutesy.

I had the same problem here as with the first book. Not too memorable but it was readable. And the way the flashbacks wove together throughout the book up to the big reveal was very satisfying. I think this just wasn’t my cup of tea and that is smth i will grieve. ]]> 4.23 2020
author: Nina Varela
name: ollie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
I didn’t even remember I read this until I literally opened the book and recognized some sentences. I think it’s cause it felt short and was real easy to blend with the first book in my head.

Ayla and Crier are now separated and running away. Crier escapes her marriage and now wants to find the truth of her K-dude’s warden Iron Heart business and also find Ayla. She masks as human and joins some human rebels on the way, bonding very cutely with them. Ayla is running to the crazy queen’s land and her brother and they also plan a way to take down the Iron Heart stuff. Ayla and Crier reunite there. Stuff happens. Big reveal about the Iron Heart. Also the story is told through some flashbacks of Ayla’s family that lead up to the big reveal. Very cutesy.

I had the same problem here as with the first book. Not too memorable but it was readable. And the way the flashbacks wove together throughout the book up to the big reveal was very satisfying. I think this just wasn’t my cup of tea and that is smth i will grieve.
]]> 41951626 Impossible love between two girls —one human, one Made.
A love that could birth a revolution.

After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, Designed to be the playthings of royals, took over the estates of their owners and bent the human race to their will.

Now, Ayla, a human servant rising the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging the death of her family� by killing the Sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier. Crier, who was Made to be beautiful, to be flawless. And to take over the work of her father.

Crier had been preparing to do just that—to inherit her father’s rule over the land. But that was before she was betrothed to Scyre Kinok, who seems to have a thousand secrets. That was before she discovered her father isn’t as benevolent as she thought. That was before she met Ayla.

Set in a richly-imagined fantasy world, Nina Varela’s debut novel is a sweepingly romantic tale of love, loss and revenge, that challenges what it really means to be human.]]> 464 Nina Varela 0062823965 ollie 3
Sapphic robot princess x maid
Def YA i think they were 16 or smth
Robot battling real emotions
Human vs. robot explored more in sequel
Human rebel groups
Enemies to lovers as in she was supposed to kill her but couldn’t
Dealing with parental disappointment and not living up to standards

In this world, automae are perfectly built robots modeled after humans without all the pesky lil things (emotions) who now dominate because of their superiorness. Ayla is a human servant whose family was killed by the automae ruler’s order so she joined a rebel group and now plans to kill the ruler’s daughter (Crier). She instead somehow accidentally saves Crier and then Crier makes Ayla her handmaiden. Crier also finds out that she was Made wrong with Passion and that compromises her and she starts doubting everything about herself. She’s betrothed to this evil on-the-rise automae revolution leader (his name started with a K that’s all i remember) who’s this giant rock in Crier and Ayla’s shoes. The main thing in this book was that Crier wants to finally start being taken seriously, act like the princess and join the meetings and such but she’s overlooked. She’s also a human-sympathizer among human-hater automae so not much good’s going for her rn! There’s some sort of human-automae segregation movement going around led by her bethrothed the K-dude and Ayla’s rebel group is also looking to revolt but she’s tangling with the enemy so some complicated stuff.

Idk it was all just very underwhelming. Nothing was really revolutionary but then again it was written in 2019 so maybe some of its themes just seem common to me now. Some people were also saying the sapphic angst goes hard here and there’s lots of pining but there really wasn’t. Their romance was very subtle locking of eyes and then bam they’re crushing. And i never understood why Crier’s “dad� didn’t take her seriously or let her give input during meetings it was just stated that “she’d never be good enough.� Did she do smth in her past to lose his trust? I have no idea! It’s not all bad though and it did hold my attention as I read it. Nothing really memorable, just that I really really really hated K-dude. My brain may not remember why but my heart def does! Kudos to author for that there’s very few times I’ve ever hated an antagonist so thoroughly.

So 3.5/5 and 9+ unless there was a sex scene which i also do not remember!]]> 4.12 2019
author: Nina Varela
name: ollie
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
Am i late to the party? Yes. do i care? Absolutely not! Been hearing a lot about this one since it exploded on booktok years back so i finally decided to give it a try. Ngl i was slightly underwhelmed. Could be because the book was so hyped I had high hopes. anyway here’s my signature general list of things throughout the book:

Sapphic robot princess x maid
Def YA i think they were 16 or smth
Robot battling real emotions
Human vs. robot explored more in sequel
Human rebel groups
Enemies to lovers as in she was supposed to kill her but couldn’t
Dealing with parental disappointment and not living up to standards

In this world, automae are perfectly built robots modeled after humans without all the pesky lil things (emotions) who now dominate because of their superiorness. Ayla is a human servant whose family was killed by the automae ruler’s order so she joined a rebel group and now plans to kill the ruler’s daughter (Crier). She instead somehow accidentally saves Crier and then Crier makes Ayla her handmaiden. Crier also finds out that she was Made wrong with Passion and that compromises her and she starts doubting everything about herself. She’s betrothed to this evil on-the-rise automae revolution leader (his name started with a K that’s all i remember) who’s this giant rock in Crier and Ayla’s shoes. The main thing in this book was that Crier wants to finally start being taken seriously, act like the princess and join the meetings and such but she’s overlooked. She’s also a human-sympathizer among human-hater automae so not much good’s going for her rn! There’s some sort of human-automae segregation movement going around led by her bethrothed the K-dude and Ayla’s rebel group is also looking to revolt but she’s tangling with the enemy so some complicated stuff.

Idk it was all just very underwhelming. Nothing was really revolutionary but then again it was written in 2019 so maybe some of its themes just seem common to me now. Some people were also saying the sapphic angst goes hard here and there’s lots of pining but there really wasn’t. Their romance was very subtle locking of eyes and then bam they’re crushing. And i never understood why Crier’s “dad� didn’t take her seriously or let her give input during meetings it was just stated that “she’d never be good enough.� Did she do smth in her past to lose his trust? I have no idea! It’s not all bad though and it did hold my attention as I read it. Nothing really memorable, just that I really really really hated K-dude. My brain may not remember why but my heart def does! Kudos to author for that there’s very few times I’ve ever hated an antagonist so thoroughly.

So 3.5/5 and 9+ unless there was a sex scene which i also do not remember!
]]> 42036538
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.]]> 448 Tamsyn Muir 1250313198 ollie 5 talented-brilliant-incredible
In this space world, there are nine houses on separate planets that all live under God. the “royalty� of these houses are necromancers with God being one too. God hosts a competition-ish to find his next Lyctor, necromancers that ascend to lyctorhood to become one of God’s right hand men. Each house sends their heirs to compete. The Ninth house is on the decline after a virus wiped out all their kids some years ago. 2 survived: the Ninth heir Harrow and a bullied sad Gideon who’s super good with a broadsword. Every necromancer has a cavalier/bodyguard so they send Gideon to be Harrow’s cavalier for the competition. Gideon and Harrow also have some deep complicated bully-bullied relationship going on that shouldn’t be diluted down to just angst but yeah it was angsty. At the competition, thus ensues a christina agatha and then there were none storyline with necromancer and cavalier being picked off one by one as the remainders try to find out what the flip the competition actually is and what is picking them off. p.s. It’s very necromancer-y ascending to lyctorhood stuff biology science jargon like thanergy and thalergy and manipulating tendons and bone and it’s just so beautiful, gritty, i dont even know how to explain it i just loved every single second of it i think i found my cup of tea. Like i literally didnt even understand what they were talking about half the time but they were so excited about it that i got so excited about it like damn yes why couldn’t i be born into this world.

Also i need a certain someone to come back to life RIGHT THE FRICK NOW. you know who you are. and im waiting.

Some notes:
Not exactly romance-y but Harrow and Gideon for sure have…undertones
Ongoing series the sequel is out alr and the finale may be coming out 2025
May or may not want to keep a little running note as you read to keep track of the names and terms

So basically read this if you’re looking to get into a very immersive gritty world with the most beautifully written characters ever. Gideon the hugs id give you. Id give this book 100000000/5 stars if i could if only to raise the average rating and get more people to read this and complete Gideon the Ninth world domination. Author and book has won awards for a big massive freaking reason. Ages 9+ but there are some sex references in the next book.]]> 4.19 2019
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: ollie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before. best books of my year, most well-written story-line i’ve seen in a long time, best sci-fi/fantasy series of my life, best characters oh my lord there are not enough honors to give the Gideon the Ninth series in this world. I should hit myself for how long i’ve taken to read it. i’ve been looking for this sci-fi/fantasy high since throne of glass and now im literally STONED.

In this space world, there are nine houses on separate planets that all live under God. the “royalty� of these houses are necromancers with God being one too. God hosts a competition-ish to find his next Lyctor, necromancers that ascend to lyctorhood to become one of God’s right hand men. Each house sends their heirs to compete. The Ninth house is on the decline after a virus wiped out all their kids some years ago. 2 survived: the Ninth heir Harrow and a bullied sad Gideon who’s super good with a broadsword. Every necromancer has a cavalier/bodyguard so they send Gideon to be Harrow’s cavalier for the competition. Gideon and Harrow also have some deep complicated bully-bullied relationship going on that shouldn’t be diluted down to just angst but yeah it was angsty. At the competition, thus ensues a christina agatha and then there were none storyline with necromancer and cavalier being picked off one by one as the remainders try to find out what the flip the competition actually is and what is picking them off. p.s. It’s very necromancer-y ascending to lyctorhood stuff biology science jargon like thanergy and thalergy and manipulating tendons and bone and it’s just so beautiful, gritty, i dont even know how to explain it i just loved every single second of it i think i found my cup of tea. Like i literally didnt even understand what they were talking about half the time but they were so excited about it that i got so excited about it like damn yes why couldn’t i be born into this world.

Also i need a certain someone to come back to life RIGHT THE FRICK NOW. you know who you are. and im waiting.

Some notes:
Not exactly romance-y but Harrow and Gideon for sure have…undertones
Ongoing series the sequel is out alr and the finale may be coming out 2025
May or may not want to keep a little running note as you read to keep track of the names and terms

So basically read this if you’re looking to get into a very immersive gritty world with the most beautifully written characters ever. Gideon the hugs id give you. Id give this book 100000000/5 stars if i could if only to raise the average rating and get more people to read this and complete Gideon the Ninth world domination. Author and book has won awards for a big massive freaking reason. Ages 9+ but there are some sex references in the next book.
]]> 39325105 Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor's haunted space station.

She answered the Emperor's call.

She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.

In victory, her world has turned to ash.

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath � but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.

Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor's Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?]]> 512 Tamsyn Muir 1250313228 ollie 5 talented-brilliant-incredible
I dont even know what to say. You’re gonna be confused. You’re gonna wonder if you skipped a book. You’re not gonna understand what the flip is happening first time around. Just keep going. Keep track of the info, note it down, and store it for later. Because holy hell it’s gonna be used later.

Harrow has ascended to lyctorhood. Smth has clearly gone wrong, so wrong that past self has to write letters to current self telling herself what to do. God and his 3 other remaining lyctors and Ianthe and Harrow are preparing to deal with reverence beasts and they go through more necromancy/lyctorhood training. Harrow’s a little fricked in the head mind body soul. Throughout the book we’ll flip through flashbacks of the competition at Canaan House and you’re gonna think hold on this is not what happened at all but just wait. Store that info and wait.

And yes, someone very beloved is going to appear again (at the very very end of the book) don’t you worry. Just read it please please please everybody in this world needs to read it. Harrow ilysm you need all the hugs in the world how could they put you through all this you're only three years old.

Definitely enjoyed this one more than Gideon the Ninth and I didn’t even know that was possible. If only English class books weren’t so fixed I'd shove this book down my Lit teacher’s throat and would write the best FRQ3 of my life no matter the prompt.

10000000000/5 to raise the average star rating bc what are yall on this series will be a literal masterpiece. 12+ things are gory and sex is 100% referenced.]]> 4.30 2020
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: ollie
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
I'd like to declare a global state of emergency: I cannot feel my hands. Goosebumps are running down my arms and who knows maybe my tonsils too. I repeat I cannot feel my hands. My heart rate is with the birds in the sky and my hands have gone numb who knows how many times throughout this book and holy shat author I cannot feel my freaking hands. What the hell Harrow. What the hell author. You little stinking geniuses I'm losing feeling in my limbs and I'm loving every second of it.

I dont even know what to say. You’re gonna be confused. You’re gonna wonder if you skipped a book. You’re not gonna understand what the flip is happening first time around. Just keep going. Keep track of the info, note it down, and store it for later. Because holy hell it’s gonna be used later.

Harrow has ascended to lyctorhood. Smth has clearly gone wrong, so wrong that past self has to write letters to current self telling herself what to do. God and his 3 other remaining lyctors and Ianthe and Harrow are preparing to deal with reverence beasts and they go through more necromancy/lyctorhood training. Harrow’s a little fricked in the head mind body soul. Throughout the book we’ll flip through flashbacks of the competition at Canaan House and you’re gonna think hold on this is not what happened at all but just wait. Store that info and wait.

And yes, someone very beloved is going to appear again (at the very very end of the book) don’t you worry. Just read it please please please everybody in this world needs to read it. Harrow ilysm you need all the hugs in the world how could they put you through all this you're only three years old.

Definitely enjoyed this one more than Gideon the Ninth and I didn’t even know that was possible. If only English class books weren’t so fixed I'd shove this book down my Lit teacher’s throat and would write the best FRQ3 of my life no matter the prompt.

10000000000/5 to raise the average star rating bc what are yall on this series will be a literal masterpiece. 12+ things are gory and sex is 100% referenced.
]]> 216398926 June, 1852.
A preacher’s daughter with a secret.
An outlaw running from the gallows.
A love story spanning oceans and deserts and years.

When Abby Proctor is kidnapped from a train in the middle of the desert halfway to her new life in California, she makes a promise to herself—she will escape. Because there’s a reason Abby is leaving Iowa and all its oppressions behind, and she refuses to be someone’s prisoner again. Especially when that someone is the infamous female outlaw Joey �JT London� Taylor, Abby's brash, brooding, and inconveniently beautiful captor.

But as Abby plots her escape, she stumbles upon a larger conspiracy at play behind her kidnapping—a complicated revelation considering the feelings she’s been having for Joey, who might not be the ruthless criminal everyone believes her to be. And when Abby realizes it’s all connected—her kidnapping, the secrets she left behind in Iowa, even her plans in California—she has to decide between returning to a life of obedience and unhappiness, or trusting an enigmatic outlaw who is bound for the gallows.]]> 516 Ally North ollie 5 talented-brilliant-incredible 4.67
author: Ally North
name: ollie
average rating: 4.67
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 196853690
Tiller finds only one mage willing to escort her. A woman named Carnelian: a soldier with a pretty face and a dodgy reputation. Carnelian loves parties, drinking, flirting, big spending, and taking risks that others would find downright unthinkable. She’ll happily lead Tiller to the heart of the Devouring Forest.

But she won't do it for free.

The two of them live in a country where magic-users like Carnelian labor under lifelong legal restrictions. The fastest ticket to greater liberty: getting married. Which is why Carnelian—known far and wide as the mage who no one would wed—demands Tiller’s hand in marriage as her payment.

Cautious, reserved Tiller never lets strangers invade her personal space. She's horrified by the prospect of marrying a mischievous gambler. But she still needs Carnelian’s magic to overcome the wild monsters blocking the path back to her childhood home.

And the deeper they go in the forest, the greater the danger. Tiller will have to learn very quickly how to deal with the darker side of her would-be wife.

The Forest at the Heart of Her Mage is a slow-burn f/f romance with two polar-opposite heroines—both hiding enormous secrets—reluctantly engaged to be married for the sake of convenience. This novel takes place in the same contemporary fantasy world as The First and Last Demon and the Clem & Wist series, but can be read and enjoyed as a standalone story.]]> 575 Hiyodori ollie 5 4.46
author: Hiyodori
name: ollie
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/11
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
carnelian needs all the hugs in the world
]]> 123616744 305 Virginia Black 1612942792 ollie 5 4.30
author: Virginia Black
name: ollie
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: sci-fi, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 209448429 A succubus's kiss is deadly... to everyone but her.

Evie is trapped. Held captive by the vampiric Court of Night, she has experienced nothing but pain and terror for over a year. Treasured for her rare and delectable blood, Evie knows she will never see the outside of the dark estate that is her prison. She is fated to be forever ruined by cruel monsters. Her freedom is a concept lost.

Natalya is the second-in-command of the Chicago-based Court of Chains. She is among the rarest monsters—a greater fiend, a succubus. A being of pure Sin, whose touch is agony and whose kiss is a death sentence. Following a less-than-diplomatic visit to the Court of Night, Natalya finds herself responsible for a human who was so hurt during her captivity that she is believed to be broken. But there's something different about this strange woman. She suffers no pain under Natalya's touch, and she can survive the infernal kiss of a succubus.

But Sin does not invite peace. The vampire King of the Court of Night is a patient man who doesn't like when people take what he believes to be his property. Or which could be his property. And only few things are rarer or more precious than the bound powers of a greater fiend.

Kiss of Seduction is an emotionally charged, sapphic love story of healing through trauma, reclaiming yourself after tragedy, and trusting another to catch you when you fall.]]> 560 Rawnie Sabor ollie 5 4.49 2024
author: Rawnie Sabor
name: ollie
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 211078779
In a world overrun by an unprecedented outbreak, two young women find themselves on opposite sides of the struggle for survival.

Saff, a determined new doctor in the first year of her internship, had clawed her way out of a tumultuous past, only to be dragged back into it when the zombie outbreak hits. Forced to join her estranged father and his band of raiders, she’s confronted with the harsh reality that desperation can make monsters out of anyone—even her.

Maddie, on the other hand, lived a surprisingly easy life after the zombies first appeared, safe behind the walls of the community at her parent’s lake house. That is, until they’re attacked, and she’s ripped away from everything she’s known. Now, she’ll do anything to make it back to her family.

And when Saff’s father dies, she finally has the chance she’s been waiting for. The chance to escape. But only if she can steal the medication she desperately needs and survive long enough to get to safety.

With both girls fighting their way to stay alive day by day, in a world where every circumstance is against them, they realize that maybe travelling together can help them both get what they need.

But Maddie doesn’t know Saff’s secret. She doesn’t know where she came from—what she was. And Saff will do anything, especially lie, to get the medication she needs.

The absolute last thing she needs is to fall for some smart ass rich girl who will get in the way of that.]]> 542 Nicole Maser ollie 5 4.47
author: Nicole Maser
name: ollie
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/19
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: sci-fi, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 60457393 What makes an Ice Queen?

Neve Blackthorne, head of one of the most successful Studios in Hollywood, is the one to rule them all. Powerful, beautiful, and aloof, she’s ruthless, yet irresistible. Above all, she has an unquenchable survival instinct.

Surely a fleeting entanglement with one Audrey Avens, a bright, young, rising star in her company, won’t bring down the Wicked Queen of Tinseltown. Or will it?

Neve’s public persona has no chink in the untouchable armor, but when the lights go out and the cameras stop rolling, what becomes of an Ice Queen whose heart is ruled by love and fear?]]> 398 Milena McKay ollie 5 talented-brilliant-incredible holy shit my heart hurts 4.45 2022
author: Milena McKay
name: ollie
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
holy shit my heart hurts
]]> 111673263 Two girls reluctantly bound by fate must weather a dangerous courtship as a prophesied war grows ever closer in Jasmine Skye's high-stakes, queernormative dark fantasy debut, Daughter of the Bone Forest.

Rosy is a bone familiar, gifted with the power to shift into animals marked with exposed bone. She spends most of her days in the magical Bone Forest, caring for her feral grandmother and hiding her powers to avoid conscription by the Witch King’s army. Until the day that Princess Shaw, a witch known as Death’s Heir, visits the Forest. When Rosy saves Shaw’s life, the princess offers her the chance to attend the prestigious school, Witch Hall, as payment. Though Rosy is wary of Shaw’s intentions, she cannot pass up the opportunity to find the cure for her grandmother’s affliction.

But at Witch Hall, Rosy finds herself embroiled in political games she doesn't understand. Shaw wants Rosy for her entourage, a partner to help lead the coming war. All Rosy wants is to stay out of trouble until she can graduate and save her grandmother, but she can't deny her attraction to Shaw or the comfort Shaw’s magic gives her. Will Rosy give in to her destiny, or will the Bone Forest call her home once and for all?]]> 432 Jasmine Skye 1250872456 ollie 5
this book hit all the concepts i've always loved in a fantasy novel-

sapphic
horsegirl mc
prophecies ab war and death
queer AND poc ppl everywhere
witch school
pining (sidecharacters)
AND MORE

plus rosy is so relatable like when the princess first started courting her and she was all "but this isn't how i met the loml in my delusions." AND THE PUBLIC GRAND GESTURES oml normally im such a sucker for them but only in the context of well established relationships when boundaries are well known. in this case the pggs let’s call em were very heavy and kinda embarrassing since it was obvious rosy was uncomfortable with them. they never really talked about it though. to be fair, the whole romance between her and shaw didn't feel really fledged out. we definitely did not get enough time to learn about shaw i mean girlie got like half a chapter in her pov (jk she had 6) out of 33. i get that she was first drawn to rosy because she was interesting and wasn't afraid of her but then next thing we know shaw's SMELLING her HAIR and they're always linking arms.

im willing to ignore that though since the romance definitely took a backseat in this novel. it was more about rosy getting acclimated to the school and then sudden conflict with the neighboring kingdom (ya know the whole prophecy being fulfilled). also, what was the prophecy??? it kept getting mentioned about how shaw was at the center of the next prophecy about war but then there was the whole thing with her grandma also fighting a war and i never really knew what that was about. i also looked past that since the war didn't actually start yet and didn't play a huge role in this book so it's probably gonna be explained in the next one.

what i really loved was the idea of witches and familiars. and how ice ppl can prophesize stuff. aklemin was so funny for that whenever they kept things elusive. i will say tho, it was definitely a choice to have flower ppl represent underwater animals. and ice ppl to represent flying ones. they don't exactly match. i can see why bone ppl have their mammals but the others didn't really make sense to me. but still i get why the author had to make do with what they had. ice and glass is not gonna bring to mind any specific groupings of animals.

now i did say there were poc everywhere and i loved that. however, all the names for the ppl im guessing were meant to represent asians were chinese-rooted (yuyan, guanyu, bai, chao, jingyi and they came from Maiming). which isn't a bad thing. but. CHINA DOES NOT REPRESENT ALL OF ASIA. i get it, they're a cultural powerhouse, but there's so many other beautiful asian cultures too. im glad that author did try to diversify the characters though, since not every author does that.

to end, i would just like to say that i really enjoyed immersing myself into a new fantasy world and i cannot wait to read the second book in one sitting too.

edit: reread 7/15/24
SPECTACULAR AMAZING SUPERB BREATHTAKING SEIZURE-INDUCING SLEEP-REDUCING BOMBTASTIC SENSATIONAL BOOK why did i originally give this 4 stars book 2 i need you more than AIR [spoilers removed]

once again thank you author for blessing this poor sapphic-horsegirl-x-princess-magic-bonding-romantasy deprived reader with such a beautiful world]]> 4.29 2024
author: Jasmine Skye
name: ollie
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
soooo when's the second book coming out?

this book hit all the concepts i've always loved in a fantasy novel-

sapphic
horsegirl mc
prophecies ab war and death
queer AND poc ppl everywhere
witch school
pining (sidecharacters)
AND MORE

plus rosy is so relatable like when the princess first started courting her and she was all "but this isn't how i met the loml in my delusions." AND THE PUBLIC GRAND GESTURES oml normally im such a sucker for them but only in the context of well established relationships when boundaries are well known. in this case the pggs let’s call em were very heavy and kinda embarrassing since it was obvious rosy was uncomfortable with them. they never really talked about it though. to be fair, the whole romance between her and shaw didn't feel really fledged out. we definitely did not get enough time to learn about shaw i mean girlie got like half a chapter in her pov (jk she had 6) out of 33. i get that she was first drawn to rosy because she was interesting and wasn't afraid of her but then next thing we know shaw's SMELLING her HAIR and they're always linking arms.

im willing to ignore that though since the romance definitely took a backseat in this novel. it was more about rosy getting acclimated to the school and then sudden conflict with the neighboring kingdom (ya know the whole prophecy being fulfilled). also, what was the prophecy??? it kept getting mentioned about how shaw was at the center of the next prophecy about war but then there was the whole thing with her grandma also fighting a war and i never really knew what that was about. i also looked past that since the war didn't actually start yet and didn't play a huge role in this book so it's probably gonna be explained in the next one.

what i really loved was the idea of witches and familiars. and how ice ppl can prophesize stuff. aklemin was so funny for that whenever they kept things elusive. i will say tho, it was definitely a choice to have flower ppl represent underwater animals. and ice ppl to represent flying ones. they don't exactly match. i can see why bone ppl have their mammals but the others didn't really make sense to me. but still i get why the author had to make do with what they had. ice and glass is not gonna bring to mind any specific groupings of animals.

now i did say there were poc everywhere and i loved that. however, all the names for the ppl im guessing were meant to represent asians were chinese-rooted (yuyan, guanyu, bai, chao, jingyi and they came from Maiming). which isn't a bad thing. but. CHINA DOES NOT REPRESENT ALL OF ASIA. i get it, they're a cultural powerhouse, but there's so many other beautiful asian cultures too. im glad that author did try to diversify the characters though, since not every author does that.

to end, i would just like to say that i really enjoyed immersing myself into a new fantasy world and i cannot wait to read the second book in one sitting too.

edit: reread 7/15/24
SPECTACULAR AMAZING SUPERB BREATHTAKING SEIZURE-INDUCING SLEEP-REDUCING BOMBTASTIC SENSATIONAL BOOK why did i originally give this 4 stars book 2 i need you more than AIR [spoilers removed]

once again thank you author for blessing this poor sapphic-horsegirl-x-princess-magic-bonding-romantasy deprived reader with such a beautiful world
]]> 35992313
In her clash with the city’s demons, Ryn is confused by her intense emotional connection with Naomi Bradford, a senator’s daughter she has sworn to protect. But while her claws can kill anything that dies (and a few things that cannot), she must also contend with the human race. They lie, they speak in riddles, and to protect her friend, the immortal must navigate the senseless rules of their flawed civilization. Worse, they are fragile—and giving her heart to one makes Ryn afraid for the first time in her eternal life.]]> 378 Casey Matthews ollie 5 4.56 2017
author: Casey Matthews
name: ollie
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 7736182 JASON HAS A PROBLEM. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They’re all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids," as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn't know anything—except that everything seems very wrong.

PIPER HAS A SECRET. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out, whether she wants to or not.

LEO HAS A WAY WITH TOOLS. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Best-selling author Rick Riordan has pumped up the action, humor, suspense, and mystery in an epic adventure that will leave readers panting for the next installment.]]> 576 Rick Riordan 142311339X ollie 5 4.28 2010
author: Rick Riordan
name: ollie
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: mythology, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 28187 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.]]> 377 Rick Riordan 0786838655 ollie 5 4.31 2005
author: Rick Riordan
name: ollie
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: mythology, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 59425689 Viveca Hua, arms-dealer

...is driven by three things: the certainty of steel, the need to win, and the compulsion to possess.

Yves, bodyguard

...hunts for the place she belongs, and she might just have found it in the captivating Viveca, who offers her a new organization, an answer—and a collar.
But their world is violent. It is unpredictable. Luck alone will not shield them. Together they must survive assassins, rival gunrunners, and their own lethal attraction.

The Gunrunner and Her Hound is an F/F/F mosaic novella (40,000 words) built from short stories connected by an overarching plot. Part romance (happy ever after included), part thriller, this is a high-heat love story set in contemporary Hong Kong, where passion burns between a ruthless ice queen and an ex-soldier who fled a ruined empire.]]> 148 Maria Ying ollie 5 4.26 2021
author: Maria Ying
name: ollie
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: for-g-gl, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 43301353 An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens her new home and her fragile place in it, in a stunning sci-fi debut that’s both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging.

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.

On this Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now she has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.

But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.]]> 336 Micaiah Johnson ollie 5 3.90 2020
author: Micaiah Johnson
name: ollie
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: sci-fi, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 50892212
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.]]> 449 Chloe Gong 1534457690 ollie 5 3.82 2020
author: Chloe Gong
name: ollie
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 40275288
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction � but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.]]> 845 Samantha Shannon 1408883457 ollie 5 4.18 2019
author: Samantha Shannon
name: ollie
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 53138095 Global phenomenon Sarah J. Maas’s sexy, richly imagined #1 bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series continues with the journey of Feyre’s fiery sister, Nesta.

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance—and healing—in each other’s arms.]]> 757 Sarah J. Maas 168119628X ollie 5 fantasy
Edit + reread 8/1/24
I will still die for nesta.]]> 4.44 2021
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: ollie
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy
review:
if sjm's goal was to make me fall in love with nesta after she spent the last 3 books making us hate her...then yes, sjm was in fact successful. i will die for nesta.

Edit + reread 8/1/24
I will still die for nesta.
]]> 76703559 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.]]> 406 Sarah J. Maas 163973094X ollie 5 4.18 2012
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: ollie
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/13
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
reread the entire series for the first time in two years and it was like COMING HOME
]]> 59910579 A 2022 Goldie award-winning sapphic fantasy for anyone who loves dangerous women, magical worlds, and lesbian pirates.

Emilia Drakon was once the youngest and kindest of the dragon sorcerers, but she’s now the last of her kind. Betrayed and angry, she trades her meekness for a sword and embarks on a quest for vengeance that will lead her straight into the arms of the legendary Captain Maria Welles.

Captain of the famed pirate ship, the Wicked Fate, Maria is every bit as treacherous and bloodthirsty as they say. She has her own vendetta and practically jumps at the chance to trick Emilia into joining her crew.

But when their animosity toward each other blossoms into a passionate romance, the two women will have to decide what they want most.

Vengeance?

Or love?]]> 514 Britney Jackson ollie 5 4.40 2021
author: Britney Jackson
name: ollie
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: fantasy, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:
definition of don’t judge a book by its cover
]]> 41662515 Summer Hayes is devastated when her co-star shuns her for accidentally sparking rumors they’re lovers. Now the so-called British Bitch has the audacity to ask Summer to pretend to be her girlfriend to get her a role? Elizabeth doesn’t even like Summer! Oh, how she’d love to tell her no. And Summer definitely would if it wasn’t for the fact she’s maybe a tiny bit in love with the impossible woman.
A lesbian celebrity romance about gaining love, losing masks, and trying to stick to the script.

106,000 words]]> 334 Lee Winter 3963241136 ollie 5 4.33 2018
author: Lee Winter
name: ollie
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: for-g-gl, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 62052571 An unfortunate accident, an old grudge, and a Sapphic fake romance.
Since A-List actress and Hollywood’s sweetheart Wren Acker came out, not only is she at the top of the acting world; she’s also crush number one for her queer fanbase. Loving life, loving her job, loving her cat—everything is fantastic. Except that lack of any kind of private life.
When a car accident brings her to the ER, the bottom falls out of her world when she realizes that reserved Doctor Taylor, her physician, is Madison Taylor from camp way back when she was a kid. And boy, does Madison still hold a well-earned grudge for how that all ended.
When Madison ends up working on Wren’s set as a medical consultant, suddenly everyone’s assuming they’re a couple. The media loses it, their fanbase grows even further, and the entire thing snowballs.
Every grudge has to be moved on from eventually, right?
140,000 words]]> 416 G. Benson ollie 5 4.17 2022
author: G. Benson
name: ollie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: for-g-gl, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 36277642
The deal is only for a year of marriage, but Hayden’s going into it knowing it will be a nightmare. Sam is complicated, rude, kind of cold, and someone Hayden barely tolerates at work, let alone wants to marry. The hardest part is that Hayden has to convince everyone around them that they’re madly in love and that racing down the aisle together is all they’ve ever wanted. What could possibly go wrong?

Words: 122,000]]> 362 G. Benson 3955338754 ollie 5 4.28 2017
author: G. Benson
name: ollie
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: for-g-gl, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 62404966 ASIN moved from less recent edition

Caroline Parker knows three things to be true. First, she is going to be Boston's most sought after divorce attorney by thirty-five. Second, given how terrible her romantic track record is, falling in love isn't in the cards for her. And third, Christmas only brings her bad luck - being broken up with not once, not twice, but three times during the holidays is proof enough of that.
When she runs into Hannah Dalton on Christmas Eve, she has no reason to believe her luck will change. After all, though Hannah is probably the most gorgeous woman she’s ever seen, she’s also straight. And married to Caroline’s work rival.
While being hired by Hannah throws her for a loop, winning a divorce case and sticking it to her ex-colleague should be enough of a thrill. But as the months slip by, bringing her closer to both Hannah and her adorable daughter Abbie, the lines between attorney and client begin to blur. And she could have never predicted just how much she wants them to.]]> 248 Haley Cass ollie 5 4.21 2020
author: Haley Cass
name: ollie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: for-g-gl, talented-brilliant-incredible
review:

]]> 216539332 There can be no victory without betrayal.

Hara Duja Gatdula, queen of the island nation of Maynara, holds the divine power to move the earth. But her strength is failing and the line of succession gives her little comfort. Her heir, Laya, is a danger—a petty and passionate princess who wields the enormous power of the skies with fickle indifference. Circling the throne is Imeria Kulaw—the matriarch of a traitorous rival family who wields recklessly enhanced powers of her own—with designs to secure a high-ranking position for her son and claim the crown for her family. Each woman has a secret weakness—a lover, a heartbreak, a lie. But each is willing to pay the steepest price to bring down her rivals once and for all.

Filled with passion, romance, betrayal, and divine magic, Black Salt Queen journeys to a gorgeous precolonial island nation where women—and secrets—reign.]]> 393 Samantha Bansil ollie 4
A queen and her 3 daughters reign over a pre-colonial Philippines-inspired kingdom with powers blessed by the gods. They come at a cost, Duja the queen growing weaker and weaker with time. She seeks a cure to sustain her powers and keep her lovestruck petty daughter Laya from having to take the throne. Meanwhile, noblewoman and Duja's angsty ex-lover Imeria wants to usurp the throne, angered by their tragic falling out 22 years ago when Imeria revealed a secret that risked Hara's entire crown and legacy. Imeria's son Luntok is Laya's lover but they can't be together for the same reason Imeria and Duja couldn't be together: a bloody past and historic cultural divide too significant to ignore. Everything changes when they both separately get their hands on a drug that would let them achieve their goals. If you like:

complicated mother-daughter relationships
complicated sister relationships
complicated parenthood
complicated family really
"I want you but I can't have you" angsty romances
jibes at the colonial western world (my personal favorite)

then this is so for you. The story itself is told through multiple POVs mainly of Duja, Laya, and Imeria and multiple letters to and from different characters culminating towards an impending doom only you as the reader playing god blessed to see and understand all POVs can foresee. I was so hooked, I felt so many emotions while reading this. For example, second-hand embarrassment at Laya and Luntok's obsessive young love, dread at what I knew was coming, and pure glee at some beautifully crafted sentences. There was a colorful cast of characters but it was so easy to keep track of them all. We get the easy-to-hate but also very passionate spoiled princess Laya, the stressed but devoted mothers Duja and Imeria, the nerdy sweet scholars that balance their counterparts, and that bastard Luntok. Kidding! I (maybe) understand Luntok was also in a difficult position, torn between the princess he loves and the mother and people who rely on him. Still, I don't have to like him.

The book did come with some choppy parts, which is expected. The action scenes were written awkwardly and the pacing was off especially towards the end. About half the book is spent slowly building the plot and drama but the resolution and ending only had a few chapters that made for a rushed pace. I wish we got to see more about Bulan my poor neglected baby, especially since both her other sisters got chapters of their own and it felt odd that she didn't. Her history had POTENTIAL. And what about Pangil? I'm holding out though, I know there's a sequel.

Overall, absolutely beautiful colorful vibrant crazy debut. You better watch out author, I'm so binging everything you're ever coming out with from now on. 3.5/5]]> 4.16
author: Samantha Bansil
name: ollie
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
You're a freaking liar author this is no debut. This is a masterpiece. Art. Poetry. A blessing to read. Thank you NetGalley and Violetear for the ARC in exchange for an honest review, my happiness lays in your hands.

A queen and her 3 daughters reign over a pre-colonial Philippines-inspired kingdom with powers blessed by the gods. They come at a cost, Duja the queen growing weaker and weaker with time. She seeks a cure to sustain her powers and keep her lovestruck petty daughter Laya from having to take the throne. Meanwhile, noblewoman and Duja's angsty ex-lover Imeria wants to usurp the throne, angered by their tragic falling out 22 years ago when Imeria revealed a secret that risked Hara's entire crown and legacy. Imeria's son Luntok is Laya's lover but they can't be together for the same reason Imeria and Duja couldn't be together: a bloody past and historic cultural divide too significant to ignore. Everything changes when they both separately get their hands on a drug that would let them achieve their goals. If you like:

complicated mother-daughter relationships
complicated sister relationships
complicated parenthood
complicated family really
"I want you but I can't have you" angsty romances
jibes at the colonial western world (my personal favorite)

then this is so for you. The story itself is told through multiple POVs mainly of Duja, Laya, and Imeria and multiple letters to and from different characters culminating towards an impending doom only you as the reader playing god blessed to see and understand all POVs can foresee. I was so hooked, I felt so many emotions while reading this. For example, second-hand embarrassment at Laya and Luntok's obsessive young love, dread at what I knew was coming, and pure glee at some beautifully crafted sentences. There was a colorful cast of characters but it was so easy to keep track of them all. We get the easy-to-hate but also very passionate spoiled princess Laya, the stressed but devoted mothers Duja and Imeria, the nerdy sweet scholars that balance their counterparts, and that bastard Luntok. Kidding! I (maybe) understand Luntok was also in a difficult position, torn between the princess he loves and the mother and people who rely on him. Still, I don't have to like him.

The book did come with some choppy parts, which is expected. The action scenes were written awkwardly and the pacing was off especially towards the end. About half the book is spent slowly building the plot and drama but the resolution and ending only had a few chapters that made for a rushed pace. I wish we got to see more about Bulan my poor neglected baby, especially since both her other sisters got chapters of their own and it felt odd that she didn't. Her history had POTENTIAL. And what about Pangil? I'm holding out though, I know there's a sequel.

Overall, absolutely beautiful colorful vibrant crazy debut. You better watch out author, I'm so binging everything you're ever coming out with from now on. 3.5/5
]]> 57524349 Horror abounds, monsters rise, and hearts break in the first installment of FALLEN GODS.

“When faced with monstrosity, become the greater monster. The sting of victory will fade with time.�

Haunted by a history of horror and abuse, Flowridia, a witch with a tender heart, finds a second chance in the home of her kingdom’s royal family. With employment comes friendship, and perhaps she has finally found a place to belong—until she catches the eye of Lady Ayla Darkleaf, a woman with enticing grace and a predatory smile. The corrupt world of politics consumes her, and Flowridia falls into a toxic love affair surely doomed for heartbreak. Yet when Ayla’s legacy as a monster unfolds, Flowridia sees only the tender soul hiding beneath.

An ancient deity returns, hell-bent on restoring the world to its natural order, and Flowridia’s kingdom is tasked to stop him. Caught in the ensuing clash of gods, her loyalties will be tempted at every turn—by family, by fate, and by the woman whose claws grip her heart.]]> 322 S.D. Simper 1732461112 ollie 0 to-read 4.01 2018
author: S.D. Simper
name: ollie
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60172801
Reporter Jenny Ryan didn’t believe in love at first sight. Until it happened to her. An encounter with a sultry nightclub singer led to a secret job at the Office of Strategic Services and an unlikely romance with the woman of her dreams.

OSS agent Kathryn Hammond knows she doesn’t deserve love or happiness. But having fallen for her former assignment, she’ll do anything to keep her safe—including staying away. When ghosts from her past emerge, and Jenny waltzes into headquarters as a new recruit, all of Kathryn’s fears materialize.

With Jenny’s protection out of her hands, and society, the war, and time against them, will their love survive?

In the Shadow of Love is the second book in this lesbian historical romance series. If you like secrets, spies, and love against all odds, you'll love this emotionally sweeping love story.

Buy In the Shadow of Love and lose yourself in a page-turning night of desire and intrigue today!

Note: As this is a series, reading the books in order is recommended.]]> 362 J.E. Leak 195529402X ollie 4 4.48 2022
author: J.E. Leak
name: ollie
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 61419120 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong comes two captivating new novellas surrounding the events of Foul Lady Fortune and following a familiar cast of characters from the These Violent Delights Duet!

In A Foul Thing, Roma and Juliette have established themselves as the heads of an underground weapons ring in Zhouzhuang, making a living the way they do best while remaining anonymous in their peaceful, quiet life. But when they hear about several Russian girls showing up dead in nearby towns, they decide to investigate—and ultimately discover that this mystery is much closer to home than they ever imagined.

In This Foul Murder, Benedikt and Marshall have been summoned by Roma to find the elusive scientist, Lourens, and bring him to Zhouzhuang. Time is of the essence aboard the week-long Trans-Siberian Express, but when someone is murdered on board, Benedikt and Marshall convince the officer in charge not to stop the train so that they aren’t thrown off-schedule. Instead, they pretend that they are investigators and promise they can solve the murder, but as they dig deeper, they realize that the murder might having surprising ties to their own mission…]]> 240 Chloe Gong 1665934514 ollie 5 fantasy 4.23 2023
author: Chloe Gong
name: ollie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 57190453
It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption from her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.

Code name: Fortune.

But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.

To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.]]> 528 Chloe Gong ollie 5 fantasy 4.22 2022
author: Chloe Gong
name: ollie
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 58448976
In the shadowy world of 1940s New York City, a sultry spy falls for the one woman she shouldn't. When reporter Jenny Ryan’s father is murdered, her burning need for justice drives her to take on a ruthless tycoon. But her plan goes awry when she falls for the criminal’s alluring mistress, OSS agent Kathryn Hammond.
�

Kathryn is more than just a popular nightclub singer with a glamorous façade. She’s an undercover spy, trapped stateside in a dead-end assignment while the war rages on in Europe. Frustrated and resentful, her emotions get her into trouble when Jenny steals her heart. As their forbidden desire blooms, they find themselves caught in a web of danger and intrigue.
�

Will their passion endanger their lives and unravel everything they’ve worked for, or will their love be the very thing that saves them?



In the Shadow of the Past is the first book in the sapphic historical fiction Shadow series. If you enjoy slow burns, secrets, and spies, you won't want to miss this noir-inspired tale of love and redemption.]]> 374 J.E. Leak 1955294003 ollie 5 4.29 2021
author: J.E. Leak
name: ollie
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 221285493 Starting over is hard. Falling for her gorgeous butch roommate might make it impossible.

When a tall, stunning butch protects Mira from her ex-boyfriend at the club—and offers her a safe place to stay—Mira should be relieved. Not flustered. She’s not into women.

Yet this tough electrician with curves for days makes Mira’s heart race like never before.

But Isabel, wounded by grief, forces Mira to keep her distance. Until Mira’s desperate to win a union election at work—and only Isabel has the experience to teach her how.

Soon they’re lingering over dinner, teasing each other as the apartment heats up. And Isabel is making her coffee every morning, hanging her shelves, giving her smoldering looks before bed�

But Mira can’t afford temptation. Not after living with her nightmare ex.

No matter how well Isabel takes care of her…or how much Isabel needs healing, too.

She can’t risk her freedom—or her heart.

Make Room for Love is a steamy slow-burn romance starring a trans woman discovering she’s bi and finding her happily ever after.]]> 346 Darcy Liao ollie 5 3.90 2024
author: Darcy Liao
name: ollie
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 216539305 “Vita’s rage overflowed until she was prepared to drown in it, and she knew that she would never again dam this anger to please another.�

After nine years as the people’s beloved princess in the sun-soaked Kingdom of Carca, Vita witnesses the execution of her mother by her father’s hand. Forced into exile, Vita fades into obscurity with her only friends—the crows that visit her window.

Eleven years later, Vita is given a marry an enemy general, granting him legitimacy to take the throne, or die as the forgotten princess. With time running out, Vita meets Soline, an intriguing lady-in-waiting who introduces her to the powerful-but-unstable magic of alchemy.

If Vita and Soline can learn to control it—and the undeniable spark between them—they could burn the world of men to the ground.]]> 397 Maren Chase 1964721059 ollie 3
Princess Vita has been imprisoned in a tower since she was 9 after watching her mother be beheaded by her father the King so that he could marry his mistress and make his male son the heir. Then a neighboring kingdom's war general Adaric (main antagonist) kidnaps now 19 year old her to marry her and thus become King. She gets a Lady-in-Waiting, Soline the love interest, a single young guard Marius, and a handmaiden Isotta. They become Vita's entire retinue early on. Soline has her own reasons to want to kill Adaric and Vita and her connect over that. Soline introduces alchemy to her. 2nd phase of Adaric's plan comes to head where he and his army take over Vita's father's kingdom but then stuff happens and it's Vita's time to shine. HEA.

I think if I went into this book knowing it was YA and not that in-depth I'd have enjoyed it a lot more but sadly it did not work out that way. Soline had a lot of potential but halfway through the book she's reduced to Vita's handler always comforting her and not wanting any action to be taken. And what even was the alchemy??? They put coins into a bowl with herbs and started chanting things and then they had fire. I just did not understand the magic system. Characters were cookie cut outs, had inconsistencies in their roles and behavior, and has Adaric and his entire war group never opened a history book in their life?

HOWEVER! It wasn't all bad. It definitely wasn't a battle to finish it and I really did like Marius. There's some political stuff going on I couldn't really get into but it was there. I loved seeing Vita getting her time to shine and bond with the army. And that last page made everything WORTH IT I was literally giggling and kicking my feet I just love public proclamations of attraction. For a debut, it was impressive.

3.5/5 and probably best for YA/borderline children I know I would have DEVOURED this if I was 8-14. Thank you NetGalley and Bindery Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.]]> 4.00 2025
author: Maren Chase
name: ollie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:
I was super excited for this: female rage? sapphic subplot? alchemy? sign me the frick up. trust me no one's more disappointed than me that it did not deliver. The main thing is that Crueler Mercies is undoubtedly YA. Between the beautiful dark cover, ravings of female rage, and adult characters, I really was just not prepared for that. The juvenile style of writing and bald descriptions put me off. It wasn't unreadable though!

Princess Vita has been imprisoned in a tower since she was 9 after watching her mother be beheaded by her father the King so that he could marry his mistress and make his male son the heir. Then a neighboring kingdom's war general Adaric (main antagonist) kidnaps now 19 year old her to marry her and thus become King. She gets a Lady-in-Waiting, Soline the love interest, a single young guard Marius, and a handmaiden Isotta. They become Vita's entire retinue early on. Soline has her own reasons to want to kill Adaric and Vita and her connect over that. Soline introduces alchemy to her. 2nd phase of Adaric's plan comes to head where he and his army take over Vita's father's kingdom but then stuff happens and it's Vita's time to shine. HEA.

I think if I went into this book knowing it was YA and not that in-depth I'd have enjoyed it a lot more but sadly it did not work out that way. Soline had a lot of potential but halfway through the book she's reduced to Vita's handler always comforting her and not wanting any action to be taken. And what even was the alchemy??? They put coins into a bowl with herbs and started chanting things and then they had fire. I just did not understand the magic system. Characters were cookie cut outs, had inconsistencies in their roles and behavior, and has Adaric and his entire war group never opened a history book in their life?

HOWEVER! It wasn't all bad. It definitely wasn't a battle to finish it and I really did like Marius. There's some political stuff going on I couldn't really get into but it was there. I loved seeing Vita getting her time to shine and bond with the army. And that last page made everything WORTH IT I was literally giggling and kicking my feet I just love public proclamations of attraction. For a debut, it was impressive.

3.5/5 and probably best for YA/borderline children I know I would have DEVOURED this if I was 8-14. Thank you NetGalley and Bindery Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
]]> 26110446
When Zafirah liberates the caravan the rescue Dae prayed for is not as it seems; Zafirah’s carnal appetite is legendary. Dae is taken into Zafirah’s harem, a decadent world of excess and sexual freedom. At first, Dae struggles with desires she has never before experienced, but as love and lust collide these two women slowly forge a bond as one learns to listen to her heart, and the other to the call of her awakening body.

Length: 113,000 words]]> 332 Amber Jacobs 3955335119 ollie 3
also very anti-asexual tho like yes they can exist]]> 3.98 2016
author: Amber Jacobs
name: ollie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:
smutty and brain numbing, just the way i like it.

also very anti-asexual tho like yes they can exist
]]> 17736248 Julianne Franqui is a hot actress and secretly gay. On a trip to New York she sees the artwork of artist Kris Milano, whose talent is not the only thing she's attracted to. Undercover of email, she begins a correspondence with the artist . When she comes to New York for filming and finally meets her, will she tell Kris the truth ... all of it?
Themes: Romance, lesbian. Length: approx. 195,000 words]]> 650 Ingrid DĂ­az ollie 4 4.58 2021
author: Ingrid DĂ­az
name: ollie
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 217192122 really is thrilled for her. Left to her own devices, she’s doing� fine.

Oh, except for the fact that her new roommate, Emma Bordeaux, has hated Regan since the literal day they’d met two years ago. Sure, most of their interactions end in disaster and Regan is the root cause, but they are all accidents! She’ll win Emma over though; she’s determined to make this living arrangement work come hell or high water.

Emma never planned on finding herself living with the most frustrating person she’d ever met, but for rent this low, she’s positive that she can put up with anything Regan throws her way.

What she isn’t sure she can handle is her mom returning to her life, wanting to bond with Emma. She definitely doesn’t know how to manage her mom believing that she and Regan are a couple. And she doesn’t want to deal with the fact that Regan seems far too into acting the part.

Perhaps the most daunting aspect of all is realizing that she might have been wrong about Regan all along…]]> 506 Haley Cass ollie 4 4.47 2024
author: Haley Cass
name: ollie
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:
emma really was just a bitch in the beginning
]]> 213683567 A beautiful, lyrical retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Nightingale' about what some will do for power…and what others will do for love.

Oriane is the skylark, and the sun only rises if she wills it.

Every morning, she transforms from woman to bird, calling the dawn with her song. Seclusion has kept her safe her whole life � but it has also left her lonely, and craving freedom. When Oriane finally succumbs to the lure of the wild unknown, she is discovered in the gardens of the royal palace, where she is taken in by the king and treated like a goddess � and a prisoner.

Embroiled in a battle of faith and politics, Oriane yearns to return to her safe, simple life. A growing danger surrounds the palace, and the skylark and her gift are at its centre. But within the whispers, Oriane learns something she never expected: she may not be as alone as she thought. There may be another like her.

The nightingale.]]> 380 C.A. Wright 064586918X ollie 4 3.94 2024
author: C.A. Wright
name: ollie
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 220505767 An addictive forbidden romance between a fake princess and her bodyguard�

After losing everything ten years ago, Sir Galeon has dedicated her life to serving her kingdom as a knight. When the prince entrusts her with guarding his soon-to-be bride in his arranged marriage, Galeon does not expect to have her heart captured by the confounding princess.

Della has more than one deadly secret. Not only is she pretending to be Princess Cordelia, but she is also a witch in a world where magic is as dangerous as it is illegal. Her ability to manipulate death is the reason she is here, and her only way out. The last thing she wants is an overly loyal knight following her everywhere.
Della knows that Galeon can never learn her secrets. And Galeon knows the prince’s bride is entirely off-limits.

As reluctant proximity turns to tentative trust, initial attraction becomes burning desire. What should have been simple becomes terribly complicated.

Yet nothing will stop Della from fulfilling the bargain she made to save her sister. Not even an inconveniently timed baby phoenix or rumors of false identity. Not even murdered corpses in the library or a jealous prince.

Not even a pretty knight.

The first in a series of stand-alone stories set in the same world, this slow burn steamy queer romantasy is inspired by classic fairy tales and Arthurian legend, where the shining knight is a scarred woman, the princess is also the witch, and the prince is anything but charming.

This story contains grief, violence, explicit language, and a guaranteed HEA.]]> 247 Mariah Rae Birch ollie 3 4.30
author: Mariah Rae Birch
name: ollie
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 219301793 A princess with a mostly useless magical talent takes on horrible monsters, a dozen identical masked heroes, and a talking lion in a quest to save a kingdom—and herself—in this affectionate satire of the Grimm Brothers� fairy tale The Twelve Huntsmen.

Someone wants to murder Princess Melilot. This is sadly normal.

Melilot is sick of being ordered to go on dangerous quests by her domineering stepmother. Especially since she always winds up needing to be rescued by her more magically talented stepsisters. And now, she's been commanded to marry a king she’s never met.

When hideous spider-wolves attack her on the journey to meet her husband-to-be, she is once again rescued—but this time, by twelve eerily similar-looking masked huntsmen. Soon, she has to contend with near-constant attempts on her life, a talking lion that sets bewildering gender tests, and a king who can't recognize his true love when she puts on a pair of trousers. And all the while, she has to fight her growing attraction to not only one of the huntsmen, but also her fiancé’s extremely attractive sister.

If Melilot can't unravel the mysteries and rescue herself from peril, kingdoms will fall. Worse, she could end up married to someone she doesn’t love.]]> 416 Ry Herman 0593733088 ollie 5
princess melilot has pretty weak magic powers compared to her sorceress queen stepmother and sisters. when she's commanded to marry a prince, she's determined to do it without anyone's interference. turns out the prince's kingdom is placed with creepy animal hybrids and she embarks on a journey with his 12 identical huntsmen who might actually be hiding something as well to help save his kingdom, juggling romance with one of the huntsman and the prince's sister all at once. ngl I was rooting for the sister but Sam won my heart in the end. and I LOVE the way melilot didn't need to end up super powerful or strong or special. like yes us ordinary people deserve happy endings too. if you love to see:

sapphic princesses
magic princesses
EMPOWERED princesses
the most hilarious fairy tale references on every page
complicated (step)mother-daughter relations
dealing with insecurity/jeaslousy
found family
true love fixes all
mc self-discovering
simple smooth trans rep tysm author
and a happy ever after ofc

then this book is so perfect for you. I've literally never had a book where I just smiled throughout the entire time I was reading it but this was a very welcome first. and somehow I fell in love with all the not-so huntsmen????? will 100% be following whatever next author comes up with.

thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review]]> 4.27 2025
author: Ry Herman
name: ollie
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:
the most charming, light-hearted, hilarious book I've read all year. It was just so CUTE.

princess melilot has pretty weak magic powers compared to her sorceress queen stepmother and sisters. when she's commanded to marry a prince, she's determined to do it without anyone's interference. turns out the prince's kingdom is placed with creepy animal hybrids and she embarks on a journey with his 12 identical huntsmen who might actually be hiding something as well to help save his kingdom, juggling romance with one of the huntsman and the prince's sister all at once. ngl I was rooting for the sister but Sam won my heart in the end. and I LOVE the way melilot didn't need to end up super powerful or strong or special. like yes us ordinary people deserve happy endings too. if you love to see:

sapphic princesses
magic princesses
EMPOWERED princesses
the most hilarious fairy tale references on every page
complicated (step)mother-daughter relations
dealing with insecurity/jeaslousy
found family
true love fixes all
mc self-discovering
simple smooth trans rep tysm author
and a happy ever after ofc

then this book is so perfect for you. I've literally never had a book where I just smiled throughout the entire time I was reading it but this was a very welcome first. and somehow I fell in love with all the not-so huntsmen????? will 100% be following whatever next author comes up with.

thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review
]]> 220263949 The world has transformed beyond recognition. Once a place of order, it now lies in chaos, consumed by a relentless game of power and deception on a global scale. Amidst this turmoil, Lilith emerges, a product of genetic engineering known as a zek.

Tasked with extracting secrets from her male targets, Lilith utilizes her unique abilities, emitting potent military-grade pheromones to allure or evade, shape-shifting, and uses a variety of tactics both taught and improvised.

Yet, as she delves deeper into her missions, Lilith's curiosity awakens. She begins to question her own origins, unveiling a world teetering on the edge of annihilation. She soon discovers the remnants of a fallen Disneyland, full of mutated animals, zeks, and even fallen angels.

Driven with a hope for a new oasis, Lilith must transcend her naivety. No longer content to be a mere pawn, she must harness her abilities and uncover the truth about her origins and destiny. While also in the pursuit of a genetic ark offers the last hope for survival in the face of impending apocalypse.

***
Trigger Lilith contains graphic violence, gore, and slurs, along with explicit sexual content and objectification.]]> Wine Lo Borgias ollie 4
We start off with a key which i think gives us enough insight about how complicated the world's gonna be. In it, end of the world events and culture revolutions are defined and we get an idea of just how fricked the world is. America is Amirkha because something about Amir and Khans, the internet is gone because of a solar flare, and the US somehow banned color. In an apocalyptic world where the world's environmentally fricked, robots or Zeks have been made as genetically engineered non-human beings and we learn our mc Lilith is a sex one. She fails a mission and finds refuge among some hiding ladies in Dizzyland (was Disneyland) who she learns survive by hosting giant orgies. Lilith bonds with them, falls in love, then a benefactor of one of the giant orgies kills one of them and they plot a revenge plan to kill them back during another giant orgy. At said orgy, we meet the possible killer Luxh who's super rich and plans on mass-impregnating one of the ladies (actually a breeder Zek) to colonize a planet and keep humanity surviving. There's a chain reaction of events since Lilith doesn't want him to, the lady wants him to, and then everything's on fire. Literally. At one point Lilith gets a nuke and sets it off and the end.

From someone who has absolutely no idea what "camp" means, this book was felt very campy. It's very gritty, gory, has lot's of sex and attempted rape but also in-depth world-building. It's like the author put every single possible idea of future events into a book, no matter how absurd. Some were just super exaggerated versions of events already happening today in a masked critique of current society which I did appreciate. Exhibit one: the US banning colors stemming from states like Florida banning books. Unless that was just a read I had. Either way, I enjoyed it and similar aspects of the book's world. It had its own charm, especially at the beginning. Like, I want 30 thousand razor sharp teeth in my vagina in case I need to cut off an offending appendage. I want the ability to release truckloads of hormones and chemicals to manipulate emotions. I believe in Pussy Power. Sadly, the book's writing really just declined after the halfway point.

However! It wasn't a total flop and I know if this book ever went mainstream it'd be absolutely bashed but it doesn't deserve that so I'm giving it a 4/5 to counteract those potential bashes. Thank you Netgalley for an ecopy in exchange for an honest review. Really ambitious debut author, I can commend you for that.]]> 2.58
author: Wine Lo Borgias
name: ollie
average rating: 2.58
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:
idk if i was high reading this or if author was high writing this but either way one of us was high ON SOMETHING. First few chapters, I thought there was a perfectly maintained balance between insanity and artistry. Then everything took a turn for the worse.

We start off with a key which i think gives us enough insight about how complicated the world's gonna be. In it, end of the world events and culture revolutions are defined and we get an idea of just how fricked the world is. America is Amirkha because something about Amir and Khans, the internet is gone because of a solar flare, and the US somehow banned color. In an apocalyptic world where the world's environmentally fricked, robots or Zeks have been made as genetically engineered non-human beings and we learn our mc Lilith is a sex one. She fails a mission and finds refuge among some hiding ladies in Dizzyland (was Disneyland) who she learns survive by hosting giant orgies. Lilith bonds with them, falls in love, then a benefactor of one of the giant orgies kills one of them and they plot a revenge plan to kill them back during another giant orgy. At said orgy, we meet the possible killer Luxh who's super rich and plans on mass-impregnating one of the ladies (actually a breeder Zek) to colonize a planet and keep humanity surviving. There's a chain reaction of events since Lilith doesn't want him to, the lady wants him to, and then everything's on fire. Literally. At one point Lilith gets a nuke and sets it off and the end.

From someone who has absolutely no idea what "camp" means, this book was felt very campy. It's very gritty, gory, has lot's of sex and attempted rape but also in-depth world-building. It's like the author put every single possible idea of future events into a book, no matter how absurd. Some were just super exaggerated versions of events already happening today in a masked critique of current society which I did appreciate. Exhibit one: the US banning colors stemming from states like Florida banning books. Unless that was just a read I had. Either way, I enjoyed it and similar aspects of the book's world. It had its own charm, especially at the beginning. Like, I want 30 thousand razor sharp teeth in my vagina in case I need to cut off an offending appendage. I want the ability to release truckloads of hormones and chemicals to manipulate emotions. I believe in Pussy Power. Sadly, the book's writing really just declined after the halfway point.

However! It wasn't a total flop and I know if this book ever went mainstream it'd be absolutely bashed but it doesn't deserve that so I'm giving it a 4/5 to counteract those potential bashes. Thank you Netgalley for an ecopy in exchange for an honest review. Really ambitious debut author, I can commend you for that.
]]> 24790901 Cas has fought pirates her entire life. But can she survive living among them?

For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the genetically-engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water.

There’s no time to mourn. Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it. She orders Cas to raise the pup, make sure he imprints on her ship, and, when the time comes, teach him to fight for the pirates. If Cas fails, her blood will be the next to paint the sea.]]> 273 Emily Skrutskie 0738746916 ollie 0 to-read 3.87 2016
author: Emily Skrutskie
name: ollie
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53962017
As heiress to a powerful tech empire, seventeen-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she's more than her manipulative father's shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue A.I. hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem.

Gun-slinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly the bounty Riven needs—until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive.

Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The A.I. exploits the girls� darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever.]]> 400 Claire Winn 1635830710 ollie 0 to-read 3.76 2021
author: Claire Winn
name: ollie
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 162706363
RĂłis, a young human with life magic coursing through her veins, discovers that her destiny is entwined with the ailing heart of the rotting woodland. Determined to unravel the mysteries behind the forest's demise, she ventures into the depths to seek its cure.

Neferíl, queen of the Unseelie faerie court, is adorned in shadows and intrigue. She is destined to kill the human girl with life magic in her blood. However, as they reluctantly join forces, an unforeseen bond begins to blossom between them. Together, they must embark on a perilous quest to reach the Eldertree where the elusive Forest Father resides—a god rumored to hold the power to heal the forest.

As RĂłis and NeferĂ­l navigate the treacherous journey through the twisted roots and dark secrets of Elvira, their hearts become entangled in the forbidden romance, defying the very destiny that seeks to tear them apart. Will they unlock the secrets of the Sacred Grove in time to save the rotting forest, or will the shadows of fate consume them both in a tragic dance of love and destiny?]]> Jordan Dugdale ollie 0 to-read 3.91 2024
author: Jordan Dugdale
name: ollie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199743701 In this thrilling paranormal YA romance debut steeped in folklore, two estries—owl-shifting female vampires from Jewish tradition—face New York's monstrous underworld to save the girl one of them loves with help from the boy one of them fears before they are, all of them, lost forever.

Clara loves rules. Rules are what have kept her and her sister, Molly, alive—or, rather, undead—for over a century. Work their historic movie theater by day. Shift into an owl under the cover of night. Feed on men in secret. And never fall in love.

Molly is in love. And she’s tired of keeping her girlfriend, Anat, a secret. If Clara won’t agree to bend their rules a little, then she will bend them herself.

Boaz is cursed. He can’t walk two city blocks without being cornered by something undead. At least at work at the theater, he gets to flirt with Clara, wishing she would like him back.

When Anat vanishes, and New York’s monstrous underworld emerges from the shadows, Clara suspects Boaz, their annoyingly cute box office attendant, might be behind it all.

But if they are to find Anat, they will need to work together to face demons and the hungers they would sooner bury. Clara will have to break all her rules—of love, of life, and of death itself—before her rules break everyone she loves.

In this standalone debut, A. R. Vishny interweaves mystery, romance, and lore to create an unputdownable story about those who have kept to the shadows for far too long.]]> 368 A.R. Vishny 0063327309 ollie 0 to-read 4.05 2024
author: A.R. Vishny
name: ollie
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220634863 Deck the halls with awkward tension�

Meet Sara Christmas fanatic, festive wedding Grinch. Her dream nuptials? Sun-soaked, Beth-free.

Meet Beth Expert at running. From countries, feelings, and one-night stands with best friends.

Now Beth's back, armed with apologies and tinsel-wrapped determination. But can she melt Sara's frosty heart? Or will she need a Christmas miracle? One thing's crystal Sara Snow will NEVER have a Christmas wedding. Right? RIGHT?

This holiday season, unwrap Clare Lydon's latest yuletide romp, where frenemies-to-lovers gets a festive shake-up. may cause howls of laughter, plus intense cravings for Christmas cupcakes. Here’s ho-ho-hoping these two get their act together�]]> 275 Clare Lydon 191201937X ollie 0 to-read 4.02 2024
author: Clare Lydon
name: ollie
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 217963906 In a lot of ways, I’ve always felt cursed.

Cursed to not understand that when I felt nothing when I kissed men, it may have been a sign that I was wrong about my sexuality.

Cursed to finally understand that I was a lesbian in my sophomore year of college, only to have a disease eliminate any chance of me exploring those feelings in my last two years of school as everyone shuddered in fear in quarantine.

And now, cursed to work in an office with humming fluorescent lights, a gurgling water cooler, and zero women around me who are anything but straight, boring, and who seem to have already given up on being interesting whatsoever.

Except Rosalia.

There’s no way I could even try, though.

Right?

April has just gotten a job at Merihem, an anonymous and boring company that does boring and anonymous things. She’s fresh out of college and powerfully depressed about everything.

On her first day, she meets Rosalia, who sparks something within her she’s never felt before. The main problem is that Rosalia appears to hate the very idea of April’s existence.

But…April also finds that she is enamored with Rosalia’s hatred, by her darkness, and by the messed-up things she insists on talking with April about.

April becomes obsessed with Rosalia, and wants to earn her favor, no matter what she has to go through to get it. And, after some rough but desperately hot hookups and sex, April’s devotion to Rosalia only deepens.

It's a shame April doesn't realize that Rosalia is a demon until it's far too late for her to escape her clutches. A real pity.

This book is a dark romance from Chloe Slate, the author of the best-selling hits The Mansion and The Startup. But be warned, fair reader, the wicked tale contained in Prey For Me is far darker, far more troubling than any of Chloe's previous works. There's no fun to be had here...unless, of course, you find things like this fun...]]> 296 Chloe Slate ollie 0 to-read 3.86 2024
author: Chloe Slate
name: ollie
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 220103757
It’s too bad for Ramona Washington that she’s exactly what Maya’s looking for, in more ways than one. Not only is she the beautiful woman Maya encounters daily on her commute to work, but Ramona is also a witch. Ramona and her sister have always kept their magical abilities to themselves, but something sinister is brewing in Ravensglen. With the Imperium Moon approaching, a dark presence seems to stalk the sisters.

While Maya is working on the biggest story of her career, Maya and Ramona’s lives intertwine as sparks fly between the two women. Will Maya sacrifice her big break for a witch? And will Ramona be able to reveal her biggest secret as a darkness looms over the town?]]> Eija Jimenez ollie 0 to-read 4.23 2024
author: Eija Jimenez
name: ollie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 208651501
Dreadmist Harbor sleeps under a near-perpetual veil of coastal fog, home to mortals, vampires, and those somewhere in between. Already down-on-her-luck, mortal charwoman Elspeth finds herself the target of a rogue vampire, shattering the peaceful coexistence. Forced to seek help from a reclusive vampire coven, she barely makes it to their dreary seaside perch before she succumbs to the bite.

Morrigan and her coven are haunted by a bitter rivalry that has left them devastated and fractured. As their old feud is once again rekindled, she is inexorably tied to Elspeth, who now carries an ancient vampiric power within her. The two are quickly swept up into a tangle of bloodlust and sorcery after the fraught transformation—realizing that matters of the heart are complicated, especially in undeath.

While something sinister gathers in the shadows of their quiet town, they are pulled deeper into a world of curses and magic, dark dealings and betrayal. But Elspeth and Morrigan soon learn that all power must come with a price, for curses are not so easily broken.]]> Jessie Thomas ollie 0 to-read 4.12 2024
author: Jessie Thomas
name: ollie
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/19
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]]> 206777707 In this fresh-yet-familiar gothic tale―part historical fantasy, part puzzle-box mystery―the worlds of Dracula and Sherlock Holmes collide in a thrilling exploration of feminine power.

At the dawn of the twentieth century in Paris, Samantha Harker, daughter of Dracula’s killer, works as a researcher for the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena. But no one realizes how abnormal she is. Sam is a channel into the minds of monsters: a power that could help her solve the gruesome deaths plaguing turn-of-the-century Paris―or have her thrown into an asylum.

Sam finds herself assigned to a case with Dr. Helena Moriarty, daughter of the criminal mastermind and famed nemesis of Sherlock Holmes and a notorious detective whom no one wants to work with on account of her previous partners� mysterious murders. Ranging from the elite clubs of Paris to the dark underbelly of the catacombs, their investigation sweeps them into a race to stop a beast from its killing rampage, as Hel and Sam are pitted against men, monsters, and even each other. But beneath their tenuous trust, an unmistakable attraction brews. Is trusting Hel the key to solving the murder, or is Sam yet another pawn in Hel’s game?]]> 375 Susan J. Morris 1959411640 ollie 0 to-read 3.89 2024
author: Susan J. Morris
name: ollie
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/19
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]]> 84710709 Adding marriage into Mack’s well-ordered life is a recipe for disaster. Her oh-so-logical solution? She’ll just hire a woman to be her wife for a year. Besides, maybe a little chaos is exactly what she needs� Enter Taylor Sutton, the woman Mack accidentally stood up for a date six months ago. With a mountain of college debt, the barista could seriously use the money that comes with playing Mack’s wife. The big hitch—so to speak—is that her new wife is pretentious and arrogant and Taylor can’t stand even being in the same room with her. God, Taylor pities anyone who’d fall in love with annoying, gorgeous Mack Watson and her kissable lips.
Wait, what?]]> 361 Charley Clarke 3963247533 ollie 0 to-read 4.17
author: Charley Clarke
name: ollie
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/16
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]]> 34742668 1054 Zoe Reed ollie 0 to-read 4.62 2013
author: Zoe Reed
name: ollie
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 40531645
The very first Dream Walker discovered was a five year old girl named Julia. And when the soldiers came for her at the age of twenty, she was already hidden away. A decade later found Julia living a new life under the government’s radar. As a secure tech courier in the capital city of Chicago, she does her job and the rest of her time avoids other people as much as she is able. The moment she agrees to help another fugitive Walker is when everything changes. Now the government wants them both and they’ll stop at nothing to get what they want.

2019 Golden Crown Literary Society winner in the Science Fiction / Fantasy category category.]]> 262 K. Aten 1619293838 ollie 0 to-read 4.16 2018
author: K. Aten
name: ollie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> 44420645
That’s not Pat’s biggest problem. She’s visiting her old friend, the Earl’s heir Jimmy Yoxall—but she wants to spend a lot more time with Jimmy’s fiancée. The irrepressible Miss Fenella Carruth, with her laughing eyes and lush curves, is the most glorious woman Pat’s ever met, and it quickly becomes impossible to remember why she needs to stay at arm’s length.

But while the women’s attraction grows, the tensions at Rodington Court get worse. Affairs, secrets, betrayals, and blackmail come to light. And when a body is discovered with a knife between the shoulderblades, it’s going to take Pat and Fen’s combined talents to prevent the murderer destroying all their lives.]]> 243 K.J. Charles 1912688107 ollie 0 to-read 3.96 2019
author: K.J. Charles
name: ollie
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219556590 From the award-winning author of Pirates of Aletharia, comes its highly anticipated sequel, Goddess of the Sea.

Emilia Drakon, pirate, fugitive, and dragon sorceress, loves her captain and her dragons, and she’ll do whatever it takes to protect them—including the will of a sea goddess.

Captain Maria Welles, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to see her enemies bleed. If she wants safety for her crew, that’s only because she’s their captain, and if she longs for the love of her sword-and-magic-wielding surgeon, Em…well, okay, that’s where things get complicated.

Regardless, Maria can honestly say she has no interest in playing this deadly game between gods and goddesses, but when she finds herself in the middle of it anyway, the infamous pirate captain, who likes to think she knows everything, will have to delve into a world unknown to her.

Luckily, she has her dragon-riding surgeon to serve as guide.]]> 692 Britney Jackson ollie 0 to-read 4.56 2024
author: Britney Jackson
name: ollie
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> 199531993
We’re two songs joined. And there’s a word for that. A harmony.

Elsa is used to hiding the most important parts of herself—her feelings for Rye, her distaste for a world ruled by men, and, most crucially, her gift of songlight. She buries that secret deep inside. In Brightland, those with songlight are called Unhumans and are abhorred. Rye is the only other person Elsa has known with songlight, and their shared bond has brought them together.

Elsa’s world begins to fall apart one desperate, heart-wrenching day and she doesn’t know where to turn until a girl appears before her. But the girl isn’t really there—her songlight has been drawn to Elsa’s frantic grief.

Elsa lives in a remote seaside village; Nightingale, her new friend, lives in a city hundreds of miles away with her father, a government official responsible for rooting out Unhumans. The two never expected to connect via songlight. But when they do, and when they realize the extent of their power, they’ll be thrust in the middle of a war that threatens their very existence.

From an award-winning screenwriter making her novel debut comes this powerful, page-turning trilogy perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Adrienne Young.]]> 384 Moira Buffini 0063358212 ollie 0 to-read 4.14 2024
author: Moira Buffini
name: ollie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/21
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]]> 187608121
But when her desperation carries her to the nightclubs of Elysium, where the wealthy pay to have their darkest fantasies fulfilled, she meets someone who could turn the tides of her fate: Celeste, a powerful witch with honey-sweet blood and a dangerous arcane smuggling ring at her command. Working for the beautiful woman could mean an end to Deni’s downward spiral and, most importantly, safety in a city of monsters � human or otherwise.

But Celeste’s charity comes at a high price. Every bit as demanding as she is beautiful, Celeste pushes Deni further and further away from her humanity � and toward the dark vampire instincts at the back of her mind. Yet no matter how hard Deni tries, the enigmatic witch is impossible to resist.

When Deni has nothing more to give up but total control, she can’t help but wonder: is Celeste using more than her charms to keep Deni under her spell? Is the safety Deni was searching for further away now than it has ever been before?]]> 260 Kira Adler ollie 2 4.03 2023
author: Kira Adler
name: ollie
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/10/21
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review:

]]> 61896624 New York Times bestseller Becky Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and friendship.

Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.

She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili—newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends.

Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in.

Even if that means bending the truth, just a little.

Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she's told all her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero—not even Lili’s best friend, Tessa.

Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with. . .]]> 432 Becky Albertalli 0063045877 ollie 5 4.20 2023
author: Becky Albertalli
name: ollie
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/10/20
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]]> 123281942 A cozy Lesbian Palace Romance about a desperate werewolf who falls into the hands of a powerful Faerie Queen.

Sierra Chelsi is on the run from a sheriff and his deputies after murdering her abusive father. Stumbling through the woods of northern Maine, the young werewolf falls into a shady grove and comes face-to-face with a dark monarch of Faerie. The Raven Queen Varella takes an unusual interest in the desperate shifter and offers her a seemingly simple bargain.

If the werewolf will agree to become Varella's new pet, then she'll be offered sanctuary in the land of Faerie, far beyond the reach of mortal law.

Although she knows better than to bargain with fae, Sierra finds it difficult to think straight in the presence of such otherworldly beauty. And when Varella lightly strokes Sierra's cheek, the werewolf finds herself powerless to do anything other than swoon.

With law enforcement hot on her trail, Sierra agrees to become the queen's pet. When she awakens in her new home, Sierra discovers a surprisingly cozy life waiting for her in the palace. And while the Raven Court is full of magic and danger, the werewolf's biggest challenge might just be surviving endless amounts of teasing and pampering from her new mistress.

While most tales warn about the danger of mortals striking bargains with fae, Sierra begins to wonder if this was the best decision of her life. Maybe just this once she'll find herself in a safe home with more love than she could ever wish for.

A Bargain For Sanctuary is a cozy sapphic fantasy about a submissive werewolf and her mistress, the powerful Faerie Queen. It's full of wish fulfillment and fluff, perfect for a leisurely read. ]]> 221 Autumn Wolff ollie 2 4.05
author: Autumn Wolff
name: ollie
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/10/20
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]]> 214243936 Discovered by the crew and almost thrown to a watery grave, Elise realizes that the ship she is now trapped on is far from the reputable merchant vessel she thought it was, but is instead one of the most infamous pirate ships to haunt the seas � The Bone Heart.
Finding herself surrounded by bloodthirsty thieves and murderers, nothing terrifies Elise quite like how captivated she is by their captain.
Captain Halliwell of The Bone Heart is cruel, arrogant and runs her ship and all aboard with an iron fist, but as Elise works to earn her place, she cannot help but see the tender side of the captain that she tries so hard to hide. Even though Captain Halliwell tries to keep her at arm’s length, neither of them can deny the desire that sparks between them.
The high seas are a dangerous place where traitors and betrayal lurk around every corner. Even if their love could survive The Bone Heart, can they?


Content death, violence, explicit sex scenes, attempted sexual assault]]> 203 Ivy Warren ollie 0 to-read 4.12
author: Ivy Warren
name: ollie
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 204124683
I was born a woman.
Raised by women.
In love with women.
Until I enrolled at Acheron University, I'd never known much of men. I certainly didn't know enough to fear them.
Then one stormy autumnal night, Professor Morgan tried to destroy me.
And when we were discovered by the university President, it was me who was punished for the unwanted seduction.
But they left me with two valuable lessons.
I would never let another woman be hurt by men again if I could help it.
And when someone hurts you, betrays you, and tries to rip out your soul, there is only one remedy for the pain.
Revenge.
And mine takes the form of the President's very beautiful, very virginal, very straight daughter, Luna Pallas.
Before the end of term, I'll destroy her innocence just as her mother and Professor Morgan destroyed mine.]]> 367 Giana Darling 1774440458 ollie 0 to-read 4.07 2024
author: Giana Darling
name: ollie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 34828410
The Lily and the Crown is a lesbian romance about daring to risk your heart with someone you shouldn’t.

87,000 words]]> 263 Roslyn Sinclair 3955339424 ollie 3 TALK ABOUT AGE GAP 4.29 2017
author: Roslyn Sinclair
name: ollie
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
TALK ABOUT AGE GAP
]]> 216409124 When a down-on-her-luck costumer agrees to a fake relationship for quick cash, the last thing she expects is to fall for a celebrity she despises.

Margo Wells hates everything about Hollywood. Especially actors. But she loves her job as a wardrobe supervisor, until a spoiled film legend has her fired for an accident on set that wasn’t even her fault. Margo faces the real possibility of returning home to Minnesota in defeat. That is until a friend suggests a crazy pose as his cousin's fiancée for a family wedding in Hawaii and earn some cold, hard cash.

There’s just one problem. It turns out the cousin in question is none other than Caroline Jacobs, the woman responsible for Margo losing her job. Unfortunately, there’s too much at stake to back out, especially after a desperate Caroline offers to triple Margo’s pay to go through with the charade.

What could go wrong?

How about three of Caroline’s most famous exes showing up at the same exclusive island resort at the same time?

Now Caroline and Margo will have to turn in the performances of their lives to avoid being caught in a lie. But can Margo survive being trapped for two weeks in paradise with so many Hollywood A-listers without choking on her lines? Or worse, falling madly in love with the beguiling blond she’s sworn to hate?

If you enjoy reading steamy, enemies to lovers, celebrity romance with a lot of heart, this latest collaboration from Miranda MacLeod and TB Markinson is the perfect summer beach read.
]]> 289 T.B. Markinson ollie 3 4.38
author: T.B. Markinson
name: ollie
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
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]]> 7431066 606 Jae 193488944X ollie 0 to-read 4.11 2009
author: Jae
name: ollie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62971189 An enemies-to-friends-to-lovers lesbian romance about finding heart, hope, and second chances you never thought you’d have.

Stella Carter is a former criminal prosecutor and new widow facing down middle age alone in Los Angeles. Without being a prestigious lawyer and someone’s wife, she’s not sure who she is anymore or where her life is headed.

When she invites her niece to move in with her, Stella accidentally reconnects with her former colleague, LAPD Captain Elizabeth Murphy. The woman is beautiful but cold; someone she was always at odds with on the job.

Surprisingly, Stella finds herself leaning on her niece and Elizabeth more and more to navigate her loss. But as time goes on, Stella can’t keep seeing Elizabeth and pretending she’s not attracted to her. Besides, there’s absolutely no way Elizabeth feels the same way. Is there?]]> 298 Emily Waters 3963247258 ollie 0 to-read, future 4.42
author: Emily Waters
name: ollie
average rating: 4.42
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves: to-read, future
review:

]]> 6603893 562 Jae ollie 0 to-read 4.21 2008
author: Jae
name: ollie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> 213348356 Sometimes a storm is just what you need to clear the skies ahead.

When Amber Archer inherits a mysterious house from relatives she thought were long-dead, she sees it as her ticket out of the current chaos consuming her New York life. A little time out in the sticks can’t hurt, can it?
Nestled in the middle of nowhere is The Willows, the premier racing stables in Kentucky owned by Rowan Payton. Loss devastated her, and she doesn’t want to feel that way ever again. Her controlled and ordered life isn’t ready for the tornado of a city girl.
Their worlds collide when Rowan comes to Amber’s rescue, igniting a fierce attraction despite their stark differences and outlooks. But when Amber’s past crashes into her present and she has to make a choice between her heart and her head, will what they’ve built be strong enough to weather the storm?]]> 298 Ally McGuire 1915009626 ollie 0 to-read 4.47
author: Ally McGuire
name: ollie
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 202515576
With the portal closed, Jules is thrust into the middle of a civil war with nowhere else to turn. Grappling with the foreign magic that flows through her veins and fueled by a newfound bloodlust, returning home hardly crosses her mind. But there is one universal law of this new realm that all Otherwordly beings must be eliminated.

Can Jules keep the truth of her origins hidden as she climbs the ranks of the rebellion? The closer she gets to the rebel leader, the harder it becomes� and the more evident it is that the two worlds are more intertwined than anyone admits.]]> 484 Hadley H. Hudson ollie 0 to-read 4.11
author: Hadley H. Hudson
name: ollie
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> 217154109 It can take time to feel proud of who you are.

Violet Kane is perfect. At least, that’s what people are supposed to think. She has the perfect career, the perfect presentation, and, until recently, she was engaged to the perfect man. To everyone around her, she's perfectly happy. But pretending to be happy is difficult when you're breaking apart at the seams. Be it with eighty-hour work weeks, nicotine dependency, or dark thoughts of just ending it all� Violet has used nearly every tool available to maintain her performance.

If only Violet could trust someone to take that desperate control away. To let her turn off.

Something is hunting Reyna Alvarez, and though she knows what it is, it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. When she contacts the Court of Chains for help, she is confined to a secluded forest cabin for her protection. But hiding and submitting isn't in the nature of a Pride fiend.

So when a beautiful, stressed-out, high-strung woman appears at her cozy prison, Reyna proposes a practical arrangement. If Violet Kane were around—on her knees, no less—isolation might even be fun.

A Little Sin is a lesbian romance that depicts the highs and lows of coming out later in life and learning to live for yourself rather than someone else’s expectations.]]> 561 Rawnie Sabor ollie 4 4.48 2024
author: Rawnie Sabor
name: ollie
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/09/25
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]]> 200982271 You only get one soulmate, and I'm not throwing mine away.

Alana and Gray have been the perfect pair all through high school, and neither of them think that should have to change just because Alana came out as a lesbian. Sure, their romantic relationship is over, but their best-friends-since-forever dynamic is stronger than ever. Really, the only difference is that instead of kissing Gray herself, Alana sets him up with other girls to do that.

Enter Talia: tall, confident, gorgeous. Gray's master plan is simple: befriend Tal and charm her into being his girlfriend. With Alana's help, of course.

But as Alana spends more time with Tal, she is introduced to a world of possibilities. A world outside her small town. A world in which Alana can fully embrace her queer identity. A world where Alana and Talia are . . . together.

As the two get closer, Alana must juggle her loyalty to Gray with her growing feelings for Tal. Can she stay true to herself and to her best friend? More importantly, does she want to?]]> 321 Maggie Horne 1250894972 ollie 5 4.01 2024
author: Maggie Horne
name: ollie
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 203163900 Set in a magical zoo teeming with mythical beasts from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and krakens, The Phoenix Keeper is a fierce joy of a cozy fantasy novel with a soul-restoring queer romance at its heart, for fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea and Legends and Lattes.

As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila's childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There's just one glaring caveat: her zoo's breeding program hasn't functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighboring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins.

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. But mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo's most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.

Especially when that hotshot griffin keeper happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and insufferable know-it-all with 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 � and her love life � now rests on her shoulders.]]> 496 S.A. MacLean 0316573094 ollie 5 3.80 2024
author: S.A. MacLean
name: ollie
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/09/22
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]]> 212068570 The eyes are the windows to the soul.

The Oracle foretold that Princess Valda Aither of the Sky Kingdom would discover her mate on her twenty-fifth birthday. They would lock eyes and find each other, as has happened since the dawn of time. Valda desperately wanted to believe the Oracle, but her hopes of finding her soulmate were shattered when she inexplicably lost her vision during her birthday celebration. Needing time to heal and adapt to her new reality, she was assigned an assistant, a young woman named Maris Era, who set her body and mind ablaze.

Maris just wanted to navigate life as quietly as possible. After her home in the Sea Kingdom was destroyed, she was adopted as a baby by a Skylian soldier and his wife. Maris was kept hidden for most of her life until tragedy struck. Alone and struggling to survive in a kingdom where Sealians are unwelcome, Maris found herself working in Oberon Castle, face-to-face with the man she believes is responsible for her suffering, while also caring for the next queen of the Sky Kingdom.

Despite her reluctance to accept a mate, Maris cannot resist her attraction to Valda and the need to be with her at all times. Yet, she must uncover the truth about who was behind her family’s demise, but how can she do so when Valda consumes her every breath?

TRIGGER
Explicit sex between two women
Violence
Xenophobia
Mention and description of someone finding out a loved one committed suicide.]]> 455 C.C. González ollie 0 to-read 4.24
author: C.C. González
name: ollie
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 205833753 Capture one harmless fugitive. What could go wrong?

Nyssa Blacksea is eager to silence her doubters. The only warrior in her guild without magick, she’s forced to rely solely on her martial arts mastery, unwavering confidence, and charisma. When given the chance to hunt down a mysterious woman named Quinn, and earn the coveted title of Ashcloak, Nyssa seizes the opportunity. Track down a fugitive? An easy task.

There’s just one problem—Quinn isn’t receptive to Nyssa’s charms and refuses to go down without a fight. Dangerous secrets swirl around Quinn and a treacherous guild leader, rattling Nyssa’s faith in the very system that raised her.

Though troubled by the sinking feeling she’s not meant to survive the mission, Nyssa confronts the dangers awaiting her, clashing with pirates, assassins, and undead horrors. Duty pulls her in one direction, but a strange, undeniable spark of connection draws her towards Quinn. With only her heart and code of honor to guide her, Nyssa risks death to stay true to herself.

For readers who love unique epic fantasy set against a semi-modern backdrop, featuring a sapphic enemies-to-lovers slow burn romance. Unworthy will appeal to fans of Arcane (Netflix), The Legend of Korra, and Gideon the Ninth.]]> 447 J.A. Vodvarka ollie 0 to-read 4.38
author: J.A. Vodvarka
name: ollie
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read
review:

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