Lies that Blemish (The Ember War #3)

Yes, wife, you are.

Available at Amazon.com

Lies that Blemish
Leia Stone
The Ember War, book three
ebook, 338 pages
Published March 2, 2025
ISBN 9781951578510


To save her people, Aisling must question everything—even herself.

Blinded by betrayal, Aisling's heart burns for revenge against Kohen, the man she once trusted. But war looms on two fronts—Luska and Imbria—and her people are caught in the crossfire. As battle lines are drawn and alliances tested, Aisling faces an impossible to side with the lesser evil or risk everything for her people’s survival.

Amid the chaos, truths begin to unravel. With every step closer to victory, Aisling is haunted by one: Could Kohen have been right all along?

Kohen Badshah is a character you either love or hate. The end will justify his means but at least he seems to take the path of the least amount of damage. It is what it is, but let's face facts: Kohen is the only one that can see the chess board in this entire ridiculous crusade.

And Aisling has inherited a position she has long been groomed for. That of a villain.

Despite its many missed opportunities and gag worthy side steps, this has been a story I've been anxious to see through to the end. Where was it going? Where has it been? What were the many lies that shaped its foundation and how would these dazed and simple minded characters set it right?

It's been two months since Kohen's betrayal was brought to light and war was declared on Imbria.

The privilege of the reigning family continues its abuse as Valor, Aisling's sister and heir, is allowed to venture into the Wilds alone at a mere fourteen years of age to bond a magical creature.

Kohen intervenes by sending his brothers to protect and guide her and eventually all three come away bonded to a trio of dragons. Dragons that are daughters to Maxim's twin sister's bonded creature. Although that detail isn't an issue for very long. Oof.

Meanwhile, Kohen's visions are no longer focused on a singular timeline but instead have branched to include multiple outcomes and in more and more he sees himself losing Aisling. To Alec. To Maxim. To death.

He's wearing down. And Aisling's mantra of threats against his life was wearing me out.

Meanwhile, Aisling has practically ordered a draft by way of an emergency lottery to include all citizens aged eighteen to twenty-five. They tear down the wall near Luskia to lure more Talanagi to their lands. And in what spare time comes in the evening, she finally, finally, has begun looking into the veracity of Kohen's claims that her father had been an active threat to her life.

Thankfully the former emperor was a looney toon that kept evidence of his terroristic plots in a safe for over a decade.

Aisling's reaction? Immediate and intense. The woman gave me whiplash.

Then Kohen... Stars above, I was in bizarro land. The man invented a gun.

And Maxim's army wields a nuclear bomb.

I can't with this.

What. Is. Happening?!

3 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2026/11

Lies that Bind (The Ember War #2)

My love, it will always just be you and me, not us and them.

Available at Amazon.com

Lies that Bind
Leia Stone
The Ember War, book two
ebook, 340 pages
Published December 28, 2024
ISBN 9781951578473


When empires fall, love is the ultimate sacrifice.

When Aisling ascends the throne as empress, the weight of the crown is heavier than she ever imagined. Her father’s brutal murder leaves her with two burning purposes: find the killer and make them pay.

But her quest for vengeance leads to an act of retaliation that shifts the tides of war—and awakens a formidable new enemy.

Through the chaos, Kohen is her anchor. His unwavering love and loyalty are the only constants in her life. Yet when a shocking revelation emerges, Aisling is forced to question everything she believed to be true—even the bond she thought unbreakable.

In a world where trust is a fragile weapon, can Aisling hold her empire together, or will her pursuit of justice cost her everything?

At the close of book one, the emperor had been assassinated. And why Aisling wasn't side eyeing Meera I have no clue. I suppose her bias and prejudice against the Luskins is just that strong.

Aisling is now empress, tasked with avenging her father and leading her people forward. Bear in mind, the Amerseans are very much the problem at the heart of this story. Imbria has been conquered and is now controlled with miniscule rations from their overseer and Luska—

Luska fights for a fair share of the ember that fuels the land's energy sources. It's a noble fight and I haven't managed the slightest urge to condemn them for it.

As I said in my book one post, if Kohen is here playing the long game, I'm here for it.

This sequel is the typical bridge. It's the stepping stone that furthers the story to its inevitable conclusion. Aisling is adjusting to her new role, giving orders, training, and taking cover. It was in this installment that it cemented for me that I was experiencing the story through a side character's POV. Kohen is the main character. He's the one making moves. He has the plot. Aisling is purely reactive.

And now we know why Kohen was so deeply disturbed by Alec.

I appreciate Aisling. She's a young woman virtuous enough to save herself for marriage while also being a combatant that's not above war crimes. And although war and death bears heavy weight, this is a strong Young Adult themed tale that can't help but sink into shallow and downright juvenile scenarios. A new threat rises to power, demanding bloodshed or submission by way of marriage, and the answer her loyal governess and most trusted adviser proposes as a response: Steal his underwear.

Gods smite me now.

Stop it.

The assassin is revealed. Nothing unanticipated there.

Amersea presently faces war on two fronts. Luska is now led by Maxim, an unknown with two bonded creatures and a twin sister aware of Aisling's hidden power.

And with Imbria. Kohen, Anika, and the others have retreated home, declared sovereignty, and proclaimed Kohen their rightful king.

Kohen orders Aisling's death. And as she dies, expected to be reborn in three days' time, his message is resounding. Everything he has done is to protect her. Seek the truth. He'll be waiting.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2026/10

Lies that Bleed (The Ember War #1)

My stars, Aisling, you’re my best friend
and you don’t even know it yet.

Available at Amazon.com

Lies that Bleed
Leia Stone
The Ember War, book one
ebook, 412 pages
Published June 23, 2024
ASIN B0CYCW6KH8
ISBN 9781951578367


For tonight, we either lived or died in The Wilds. Nothing else mattered.

As the daughter of the emperor, Aisling Everhart was born into privilege. She has trained her entire life to go into The Wilds and have a chance at bonding with a creature that can give her unknown power. Half of the candidates will die the first night, and only a few will make it out. Those who survive the bonding are quickly conscripted into the Imperial Fleet to join the war.

What Aisling never could have prepared for, was Kohen Badshah, former prince of Imbria, her father’s sworn enemy. When Kohen proposes an unlikely alliance, she accepts. They enter The Wilds together, and Aisling realizes that she was woefully unprepared, especially when nothing goes to plan.

After barely surviving, she’s thrust into the Imperial Fleet to learn how to control her new gifts, but as her power grows, so do the dangers—including multiple attempts on her life. When you don’t know who is friend or enemy, it’s hard to trust, but Kohen Badshah appears to be protecting her.

It’s that or he’s playing one excellent long game. Which one, only time will tell.

As future empress, Aisling has long prepared for the day she would enter the Wilds and risk her life to bond with a magical creature that would bestow upon her, and all other worthy candidates, a magical power that could be used not just in the war against Luska but also grant the lesser privileged a higher standing within society.

As her father's heir, her chance is a given. For others, the opportunity is left to a lottery. And to the rigging by the powers that be. Aisling is well aware of her father's schemes. First, to have her betrothed enter the Wilds with her, ensuring their mutual success would also provide a stronger rule. And secondly, to have the son of the late infamous traitor be put to death without any political backlash.

What Aisling is unprepared for, however, is meeting Kohen Badshah, her best friend's name being pulled in the lottery, and her betrothed's infidelity. The latter of which blamed entirely on a man's need to "scratch an itch". And for the love of all things worthy must we be so cliché?!

Kohen enters the Wilds alongside a number of his fellow Imbrians with a reputation steeped in violence.

And it's a rep that Aisling is practically questioning from the onset. His every act, his every word, has her second guessing the long held prejudice spawned from stories circulated by his enemies and pounded into her by her father.

Three days. Survive three days in the Wilds, claim a beast worthy of an empress (but not a challenge to the reigning emperor) and keep her bestie safe. That's it. That's the goal.

Kohen's motivations are similar. Survive. Survive not only his rival candidates and the beasts of the Wilds but also the many assassins the emperor has sent after him. Protect his kin, those he claims as his family. And bond with a creature that can give him the power he so desperately needs.

While Aisling intends to steer clear of the legendary Talanagi beasts, Kohen is focused on bonding nothing less.

By a third of the book, Aisling has sparked a tentative friendship with Anika (Kohen's steadfast friend and passionate supporter), ensured her best friend has survived and bonded to wolf, commits treason by killing off two of her father's men when they nearly take out Kohen, witnesses that same Kohen fight and bond to a dragon, and she herself bonds to a firebird. Which results in her burning up in a ball of fire, dying, and rising from the dead inside of a bodybag after Kohen carries her corpse from the forest.

Oh, Kohen. That boy had my heart throughout.

From his bonded dragon, Onyx, Kohen inherits a power of fire but also the much feared power of foresight. He can see a future of battles and death but with them, visions of he and Aisling together as lovers. He struggles to reconcile his feelings of possessiveness and the urge to protect her with the very unfortunate present wherein they are strangers to one another and, by extension of her father, practically enemies.

As he contends with the weight of this power, Kohen desperately seeks the connection that has not yet come to fruition. His future lover and best friend wants only to keep him at a distance.

Aisling, meanwhile, has her own powers to conceal. While becoming a living fireball may be a praiseworthy skill, her ability to control one's mind would see her terminated by her very own people for being too strong a threat.

Add on that Aisling's firebird raised Kohen's dragon as if he was her own hatchling and these two main characters have more red strings tying their fates than your average YA leads.

And it all ends on a cliffhanger.

“I want you to remember something, okay?” he breathed.
All I could do was nod.
Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to my ear. “Remember that no matter how things may seem, everything I do is to protect you.”

4 out of 5 stars. Immediately diving into book two and a small part of me is very much hoping that Kohen is indeed playing the long game. Metal Slinger has ruined me for life.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Next in the series:

2026/09

The Prisoner's Throne (Stolen Heir Duology #2)

Charm me. Rip me open. Ruin me. Go too far.

Available at Amazon.com

The Prisoner's Throne
Holly Black
Stolen Heir Duology, book two
Hardcover, 356 pages
Published March 5, 2024
ISBN 9780316592710


An imprisoned prince. A vengeful queen. And a battle that will determine the future of Elfhame.

Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude willing to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, Oak will have to decide whether to attempt regaining the trust of the girl he’s always loved or to remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign—even if it means ending Wren, too.

With a new war looming on the horizon and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. It’s just a question of whom he will doom.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the stunning blood-soaked conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology.

Okay, I'm obsessed.

Tried to start a book with an impending sequel release but I quickly found my heart was still in Elfhame.

This conclusion to The Stolen Heir is told entirely through Oak's POV. And I have a few things to yell about.

Give me my girl Wren's POV back!

Why does everyone want to kill my favorite supporting character in these finales?

How does Cardan just keep getting better?

And why couldn't we get more loving scenes between Oak and Wren?

That is it. That is all. That's the post. Now excuse me while I go hunt down multiple editions of this series because of that there are plenty and I'm obsessed enough over these characters that I will need more than one copy.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/54

The Stolen Heir (Stolen Heir Duology #1)

If we were capable of putting mistrust aside,
we might be a formidable pair.

Available at Amazon.com

The Stolen Heir
Holly Black
Stolen Heir Duology, book one
Hardcover, 356 pages
Published January 3, 2023
ISBN 9780316592703


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

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

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

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

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black returns to the opulent world of Elfhame in the first book in a thrilling new duology, following Jude's brother Oak, and the changeling queen, Suren.

This was an emotional read for me.

It got to me on a level that Folk of the Air did not touch.

Wren. Oh, my girl, Wren. The way I wanted to shield and console her like the daughter I never had.

We first met Wren, then called Suren, when her parents, Lord Jarel and Lady Nore, offered her in marriage to Oak when they were mere children. Oak freaked out then, but we learn here that Suren desperately wanted Jude to accept the bargan. She needed to be free of the bridle that chained her. Free of the kin that tortured her.

In the end, Jude did not make that deal. But, at Oak's beseeching, Jude did what she could to ensure Wren had a bit more power than she held otherwise. Jude forced Lady Nore to swear fealty to Wren thus giving Wren the power to command her.

But things took a turn and Wren fled. Back to the mortal world. Back to the realm of the family that had adopted and loved her in her early years. The family that had been eventually horrified by her.

And there she has lived for the past eight years. In the forest. Alone. Barely surviving at all.

Oak visited her a few times while escaping the pains of his own existence. He so badly wanted to be her friend.

But the lonely, broken thing that she was, Wren pushed him away. She knew the best place for Oak was with the family that loved him. Such was a place she no longer had and could not find her way back to.

Oak protected her when he could, in the only ways he knew how. As a child, and now as an adult. In the moment the arrows rained down and he hauled her atop his horse. In the moment Queen Annet and her ogres sought to claim her. In the journey that would lead her back to the beginning of her hellish life.

I kept waiting for the shoe to drop, because Cardan...but it never did.

The author took the very best of Jude and Cardan and embodied it with Oak. His worst faults were his secrets and, for a fae, that's pretty damn good.

Wren though... and that ending.

The girl who spent years breaking curses to free those she could. The girl who risked her own safety to liberate those imprisoned. That girl was so terrified to face a reality in which she might be only a pawn to the boy that would again abandon her like everyone else...

That traumatized and terrified girl wielded the very bridle that had enslaved her, and took a prisoner of her own.

This duology does not seem to be as loved as the Folk of Air series, and it is such an injustice. Oak and Wren are everything.

5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

2025/53

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (Folk of the Air #3.5)

Boys change... and so do stories.

Available at Amazon.com

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book three point five
ebook, 200 pages
Published November 24, 2020
ASIN 031654082X


An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame.

Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue.

Before he was a cruel prince or a wicked king, he was a faerie child with a heart of stone . Revealing a deeper look into the dramatic life of Elfhame’s enigmatic high king, Cardan, his tale includes delicious details of life before The Cruel Prince, an adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar moments from The Folk of the Air trilogy, told wholly from Cardan’s perspective.

This new installment in the Folk of the Air series is a return to the heart-racing romance, danger, humor, and drama that enchanted readers everywhere. Each chapter is paired with lavish and luminous full-color art, making this the perfect collector’s item to be enjoyed by both new audiences and old.

A collection of novellas that add on to the story of Cardan and Jude. It is a must read in the series for a full picture of the characters and their motivations.

1. Jude introduces Cardan to how she traveled to and from the mortal world. Cardan is just admiring her the whole way.

She wants to fight monsters, and she wants him for a lover, the same boy she fantasized about murdering. She likes nothing easy or safe or sure.

2. Nine year old Cardan is visited by a troll who tells him a story. This was probably my favorite of the book.

3. Tells the story of when Cardan first comes to live with Balekin and meets the door. I do love his door. Also, it's when he meets Nicasia for the first time.

4. Cardan takes one of Balekin's human slaves back to the mortal world.

5. The early stages of Cardan's obsession with Jude.

6. Cardan and Nicasia visit her realm. Spoiler: He's over it.

7. How Cardan obtained the book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glsss, and the return of the troll. This time she tells a new version of the old story.

8. The story of Nicasia's betrayal with Locke. In Cardan's own bedroom no less.

Tell me it means nothing, that it was just a bit of fun, he thought. Tell me and everything will be as it was before. Tell me and I will pretend along with you.

But she was silent.

Oof.

9. Cardan learns of Locke's interest in the Duarte sisters and what follows is a bit of the bullying from book one from his POV.

This one should have been longer.

10. Cardan dines with Jude, Oak, Vivi, and Heather in the mortal world before the tale continues on from the first in this book and comes full circle with the troll. Only this time, it is Cardan that tells a variation of the story.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/51

Lightlark (Lightlark #1)

Remember us, Heart. Remember it all.

Available at Amazon.com

Lightlark
Alex Aster
Lightlark, book one
ebook, 384 pages
Published August 23, 2022
ASIN B09S6JGRMH
ISBN 9781647006310


Welcome to the Centennial.

Every hundred years, the island of Lightlark appears for only 100 days to host a deadly game, where the rulers of six realms fight to break their curses and win unparalleled power. Each ruler has something to hide. Each curse is uniquely wicked. To break them—and save themselves and their realms—one ruler must die.

To survive, Isla Crown must lie, cheat, and betray. Even as love complicates everything…

When she fell in love with two enemies, in different times… she just doesn’t remember…

Those were the words that inevitably made me decide to pick up this book. Triangles and throuples are not my thing. I've seen the Team Grim/Team Oro posts so I have some idea of what I'm in for. As far as the love interest is concerned that is.

I was not, however, prepared for intricacies of the plot. Less than ten percent in and I'd had so much information thrown at me that it felt like I was about to fail a test. Six cursed realms. Six cursed rulers. Thousands of years and five Centennials of failures.

Were they even trying?

Turns out, deciding which realm to end was just too hard.

Isla is a Wildling. Her kind is cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with and to survive on eating human hearts. She, however, is not. No curse, but also, no power. Also, she portals to other realma using her Starstick, a magical, ancient relic.

Grimshaw: a Nightshade. He is all that stands between the realms and a threat far greater than their curses.

Oro: a Sunling and king of Lightlark. Possesses the powers of all the realms but the sun will kill him.

Celesta: a Starling and Isla's secret ally. Cursed to a short lifespan of twenty-five years.

Azul: a Skyling. Their curse took their ability to fly.

Cleo: a Moonling and eldest of the rulers. They're cursed to be lured to drown in the ocean every full moon.

'Have we met?'

"If we had... it wouldn't have been just once."

What is it you know, Grim? Who are you? More importantly, who are you to her?

Escorts her shopping. Feeds her chocolates. Tips her off to the necessity of a sword. Well he certainly hit the ground running.

For most of this book... it's quite dull. I had to shift to audiobook because my eyes kept wandering from the words on the page.

Isla and Celeste, bless their hearts, have their own plan for breaking the curses on their realms. The youngest of the rulers, first time participates in the Centennial, think they have it all figured out and a good chunk of the book revolves around that doomed to fail plot line.

Did that stop me from ordering Grim and Oro's Dual Crowns book that released while I was working my way through this book? No. It did not.

Because, to absolutely no one's surprise, the leading males are the gravity to this book. Grim is delicious. Dark, brooding, and shrouded in mystery, he's everything I'm attracted to in an MMC. Oro...

Oh, Oro.

He is not so different than Grim. There's a play on enemies-to-lovers in his relationship to Isla. They clash while Isla and Grim seem to blend. Oro is not above using Isla to further his own gain. A fact that urged me to slap Isla upside her crowned head when she deigned to assert that Oro "hadn't really betrayed" her. Tf he didn't! She divulges her most concealed secret, that which has reduced her to a prisoner of her own realm, and not twenty-four later, Oro is announcing it to those that have the most to gain by exploiting it. But he's never lied to her and to Oro, and oddly to Isla as well, that apparently makes up for his transgression against her.

Mister... the way I want to drag you into the sun.

Isla is a terrible judge of whom to trust. Which is why the epic betrayal at the end shouldn't have surprised me. Because I expected that person to die anyway. Somehow it did. Maybe because that person wasn't the person we'd been led to believe they were. It was the how of it, and not the who of it. It was a nice twist; I do love a good female villain.

And why the hell are you spitting at Grim? He maneuvered you like a pawn to save both of your realms but you, Isla, would have sacrificed yourself to save everyone? That's one hell of a twisted outlook. Someone *has* to die but not once did Isla ever offer the Wildling realm as the sacrifice.

She trusts no one but Oro now.

The love of the FMC is a fickle thing.

She's doomed.

The author is a liar and a deceiver. Trust nothing she says and no character she writes.

3 out of 5 stars

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

2025/48

The Wicked King (Folk of the Air #2)

I want to tell you so many lies.

Available at Amazon.com

The Wicked King
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book two
Hardcover, 322 pages
Published January 8, 2019
ISBN 978031631035


I have heard that for mortals the feeling of falling in love is very like the feeling of fear. Your heart beats fast. Your senses are heightened. You grow light-headed, maybe even dizzy. Is that right?

Jude has bound the wicked king, Carden, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were biddable. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her, even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

The first book in this series was so pleasantly ridiculous that I've actually been itching to get back into the Folk of the Air.

As Malakai Azer would say: What the hell is wrong with me?

The characters are just bizarre. Cardan, the epitome of "I don't want to be here" and Jude... strategic little Jude who can be utterly oblivious in some regard and a rockstar genius mastermind in others.

You love it. You hate it. You're disgusted. You're enthralled.

It's been five months since Jude managed to have Cardan crowned High King of Elfhame and she is now deep in her life lesson that power is far easier to grasp than it is to maintain a hold of. And despite Cardan being under her command, bound by his vow, it seems far better to leave him to the revelry while she plays at the politics.

Jude's the one doing all the work and yet, somehow, it's still Cardan that's carrying this book. Jude can't read him whatsoever. There's no anticipating the shenanigans Cardan's going to wander into next what with Locke pulling at his strings, Madoc plotting wars with the sea, Nicasia firing off crossbows at his would-be lovers, and everybody else dancing in every corner of the castle.

And yet, when he starts unfurling into his role as High King, ...dayumm.

From

“I have heard that for mortals, the feeling of falling in love is very like the feeling of fear.”

to

“Jude," he’d said, running a hand up my calf, "are you afraid of me?”

Meanwhile... Nooooo! Ghost, why????

In the end, Cardan offers Jude a new bargain in exchange for his freedom. A bargain that will see Jude Duarte, mortal though she may be, as Queen of Faerie.

5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook | collectors edition

Previously in the series:

2025/43

Cruel Prince (Folk of the Air #1)

Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes.

Available at Amazon.com

Cruel Prince
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book one
Harcover, 370 pages
Kindle edition, 385 pages
Published January 2, 2018
ISBN 9780316310277
ASIN B071XQ6H38


Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

I may be cruel, a monster, and a murderer, but I do not shirk my responsibilities.

Well there you go. Words to live by, ladies and gents.

The fan art made me pick this one up. I was so not prepared.

Seven-year-old Jude was just watching her cartoons and munching on fish sticks with ketchup on the night her mother's redcap husband, Madoc, finally tracked down his wife.

Tracked her down, shoved a sword into the gut of Jude's father, and then threw said weapon into the woman's back.

How's that for a prologue?

Madoc had come for his daughter, Vivienne, Jude's older sister, but left the mortal home with also Jude and Jude's twin, Taryn, in tow, back to Faerie.

Ten years later, the real story unfolds as Jude and Taryn are whisked off to the palace for a royal party by Madoc and his wife, Oriana. Vivi? Like hell if she'll be attending. Total rebel that one.

And so the parade of characters begins. High King Eldred and his six heirs: thorned Balekin, the firstborn; lark Elowyn, the eldest daughter; third born Dain, part deer and leader of the Falcons; their younger sisters, Rhia and Caelia...

And the youngest of the bunch: Cardan, whom Jude proclaims is the absolute worst of them.

And the way my jaw dropped at what happened next. Nope. Won't get an argument from me in that regard. Cruel prince, indeed.

I stand in front of my window and imagine myself a fearless knight, imagine myself a witch who hid her heart in her finger and then chopped her finger off.

Jude Duarte, thou art a glowing a red flag.

Jude is tortured by her classmates in an endless barrage of bullying from Cardan and his trio: Nicasia, Valerian, and the lesser aggressive of the beasts, Locke.

And then Dain recruits her to be his spy against Balekin as rumor of the king's impending abdication slowly comes to fruition. She accepts his bargain in exchange for his protection against being glamoured, controlled, and likewise.

It's during her first mission that she stumbles erroneously into Cardan's bedchambers, intentionally steals his copy of Alice in Wonderland, and unintentionally witnesses his suffered abuse at the whims of his brother, Balekin.

She'll kiss Locke. She'll stab Valerian. Bury a body. Then ultimately stand in the center of a coup.

And my, what a savage coup it was.

These aren't the Fae of our beloved romantic fantasy. Here dwells the classics, the fey, the little shites that steal babes and make wicked bargains.

This is akin to the boy who pulls on a girl's braids in class and pushes her down on the playground. It's annoying and wrong but allowances can be made if we stop holding others to our own predisposed standards. Perception does not dictate intention. Her truth isn't his truth. And so on and so forth.

Have I mentioned I was ill prepared for this? For Cardan!? Absolutely flabbergasted at the cretin. No idea whatsoever what to do with him. He and Jude are their own mood. And Madoc? Live long and prosper, you monster. The way he handled Jude dueling with Taryn—chef's kiss. I could not hate him. Wouldn't trust him, but still couldn't hate him.

4 out of 5 stars.



Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

2025/40

Aurora's End (Aurora's Cycle #3)

Squad 312 forever.

Available at Amazon.com

Aurora's End
Amie Kaufman (Website)
Jay Kristoff (Website)
Aurora's Cycle, book three
470 pages, Kindle Edition
Audiobook, 15+ hours
First published November 2, 2021
ISBN 9781524720889

Is this the end?

What happens when you ask a bunch of losers, discipline cases, and misfits to save the galaxy from an ancient evil? The ancient evil wins, of course.

Wait... Not. So. Fast.

When we last saw Squad 312, they were working together seamlessly (aka, freaking out) as an intergalactic battle raged and an ancient superweapon threatened to obliterate Earth. Everything went horribly wrong, naturally.

But as it turns out, not all endings are endings, and the team has one last chance to rewrite theirs. Maybe two. It's complicated.

Cue Zila, Fin, and Scarlett (and MAGELLAN!): making friends, making enemies, and making history? Sure, no problem.

Cue Tyler, Kal, and Auri: uniting with two of the galaxy’s most hated villains? Um, okay. That, too.

Actually saving the galaxy, though? Now that will take a miracle.

Nobody—but nobody—does a recap better than the authors of this book. This final installment opens up with Scarlett, whose self confidence rivals the best of them, and Finian as they wake up to find that they are not, in fact, dead. Which is weird, because that's what usually happens when you, ya know, blow up.

And they realize it again, and again, and again, as we repeat the chapter over and over and over while stuck in a time paradox. In a different place. In a different time.

They're no longer in 2380. They're in 2177. And the galaxy is at war.

Kal and Aurora... they're twenty-seven years into the future. So... 2407.

And Tyler and Kal's villain sister, Saedii (aka Lexa from The 100) are in the present. And speaking of...

Tyler is Saedii's mate? Oh my.. yes! Tears for Cat, but oh yes! I am here for this. For this psycho wench that parades around with a necklace of her past suitor's fingers and our dear, beloved captain.

She’s rage. She’s fire. Pushing like a knife into my chest.

I do what I wish.
I go where I please.
I take what I want.

And I see it then. As her eyes drift from mine, down to my lips and back up again.

Maker’s breath, she wants me.

We crash together, so hard the split in my lip opens again. She breathes into my lungs and my fingers weave into her hair, and the thought of how stupid this is is drowned out by the feel of her in my arms as I lift her off the ground.

She cinches her legs tight around my waist, gasping as we collide with the wall, her fingernails drawing lines of fire across my bare back as my hands squeeze her tight, pushing her hard against the metal. Stupid as this feels, crazy as it is …

The whole galaxy might be at war tomorrow.

We might all be dead.

Live for tonight. Tomorrow we die.

Her mind is entwined with mine, drenching me with her want and redoubling my own. It’s hard to breathe. To think. I’ve never felt anything like this, never needed anything so desperately, but this is insane, this is…

“Saedii,” I gasp, twisting my head away.

Stop speaking, Tyler Jones, comes her voice in my head. There are better things for you to be doing with your mouth.

Yeah, okay.

Hard to argue with that.

But then we're back with Kal and Aurora in the future, hanging with Kal's villain father, reuniting with a very angry Tyler and... Saedii's dead. And Zila. And Fin. And Scar. They're believed to be dead, too. And we lost the battle because the weapon we need, the weapon only Aurora and Kal's father can wield, never came.

And a third Tyler chasing Cat, who died in the first book? Or is it the o.g. Tyler? How many Tylers are in this book?!

And how many of those Tylers will die?

Gah! All the feels. The ache! How dare you take such a fun ride and hit me right in the chest in the end!

I should have loved her better. I should have loved her more. And I try to tell her, with the breath I have left in me, with the lips I press to hers, opening my mind and pouring into her, telling her I’m sorry.

I love you.

And then I drive the knife right into her neck.

Dang, Tyler.

And Saedii with her daughter, Lae. Finian and that damn pen. Kal with his Be'shmai. Zila.

There's so so much. And, yes, it's all about time.

5 out of 5 stars. I'm going to miss Kal most of all.



Available in ebook | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/25

Shadow Wars (Secret War #1)

We all have pain to bear.
It just wears different faces and attacks us in different places.

Available at Amazon.com

Shadow Wars
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Hinako Hishinuma & Madaug Hishinuma
Secret War, book one
255 pages, Kindle edition
Published May 27, 2025
ISBN 9798200751044


From bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon and debut authors Hinako & Madaug Hishinuma comes a middle-grade fantasy adventure unlike any other, where demons rub shoulders with gods and one boy must learn to control his power before it's too late.

Banished, isolated, and hunted for a destiny he doesn’t understand, Ryuichi must learn to master the powers he inherited from his mother in order to protect the sacred gates that separate the mortal world from the realm of demons. If he doesn’t, kami, yōkai, and demons who are determined to make humanity suffer will flood the human realm.

No one can be trusted. Not even his own guardian … And here he thought puberty was the worst thing to threaten his sanity.

If he’s going to survive, Ryuichi must figure out who his real allies are—and who wants him dead. He’ll learn that sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right, and to overcome evil, you might have to bend the rules—and believe in people others tell you not to trust.

This book, written by one of my favorite authors in collaboration with her children, was a part of my son's assigned summer reading.

It is a good book. It's fast paced. There's a lot of characters that seem to swoop in and out. Multiple POV changes. To put it succinctly, my head was spinning.

That said, the characters are fantastic. There's many deep, haunting themes but also there's humor throughout. And although I'm not the biggest fan of making light of alcohol addiction, it certainly is no where near as offensive as Jiraiya's affliction. And I make that reference because this book obviously has all the anime feels and anyone who is a Naruto fan should find some enjoyment in the reading of it.

What I appreciated most were the many proverbs dispersed throughout the pages. The pantheon of Japanese mythology. The folklore. The culture.

Ryuichi is an orphan without a family name. His mother and father are long forgotten by the mortals that roam in and out of his young life. He is bullied but is he far from broken and as he comes of age, the powers he inherited from his parents are surging to the surface.

With the help of his guardian, a ronin, a couple kitsunes, and a few capable kids, Ryuichi discovers he is someone of value. He is not worthless. He is loved. He is not forgotten.

3 out of 5 stars.



Available in ebook | hardcover |  audiobook

2025/10

Aurora Burning (Aurora Cycle #2)

My deception and my devotion. Only one of them for her.

Available at Amazon

Aurora Burning
Amie Kaufman (Website)
Jay Kristoff (Website)
Aurora Cycle, book two
Audiobook, 15+ hours
Kindle Edition, 497 pages
Published May 5th 2020 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
ASIN B07YRWKB65

Our heroes are back… kind of. From the bestselling co-authors of the Illuminae Files comes the second book in the epic series about a squad of misfits, losers, and discipline cases who just might be the galaxy’s best hope for survival.

First, the bad news: an ancient evil—you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal—is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They’ve just got to take care of a few small distractions first.

Like the clan of gremps who’d like to rearrange their favorite faces.

And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.

Then there’s Kal’s long-lost sister, who’s not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.

When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it’s time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can’t learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.

Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion’s most unforgettable heroes—and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.

I had to do it. I finally got around to it. And with the intro being the ever so perfect recap and, need I say, introduction to the characters, I was *so* happy to be back in this world.

Only to be absolutely devastated at the audacity of what's left of Squad 312 turning on one of their own. Rip out my heart why don't you!

And only to stomp on it with a cliffhanger ending? How dare you!

Rolling the spoilers... In this installment, Cat remains alive in memory alone. When her image isn't being manipulated for half ass interrogation methods that is. Tyler is taken prisoner, alongside Kal's sister, Saedii, and spends the greater half of the book in captivity. Kal and Auri endure "months" in isolation as Auri learns to wield her powers as the Trigger, refusing to forsake all for the greater good but still managing to forsake love when... *sigh* And the rest of the squad is just hanging on for the ride until everything goes dark. Literally.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook (I recommend the full cast audiobook!)



Now, I need to call out Saedii for looking a little too much like Lexa from "The 100". Right?

Previously in the series: