Reading round up (56)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress, my thoughts on each book as I read it, and any books I've acquired during the week.

8th December

Currently Reading: Poison Study | Maria. V. Snyder
Current page/percent: page 127
Read today: 127 pages
Thoughts: HOLY HELL. Yelena is one of those rare characters I fall instantly in love with. I don't know what makes her special or the one but I'm gonna love this entire series, I know it.

9th December

Currently Reading: Poison Study | Maria. V. Snyder
Current page/percent: page 295
Read today: 168 pages
Thoughts: I am officially hooked on Valek/Yelena. Pls pls kiss. C'mon. Just kiss each other. Just once or a hundred times. That's all I ask.

10th December

Finished Poison Study (114 pages) and whoa boy. Astounding high fantasy. AND YELENA AND VALEK DID MORE THAN KISS yasssssssssss.

I also started Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore (9 pages) and it interesting so far.

11th December

Finished Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore and it was wonderful. Just simply wonderful. Highly recommend for a quick, cute read.

12th December

Today I'm starting a readalong of A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray!! I've been meaning to read this book for EVER so I have super high expectations. I only read 70 pages but I like the tone and the voice so far.

13th December

Read 65 pages of A Great and Terrible Beauty, but it's a little slow going for me personally, so I ended up reading 10% of The Jewel by Amy Ewing in between. Not sure about it so far. I'm a little bored but maybe it's not kicked in yet.

14th December

I'm not reading much of this at a time and it's frustrating me. Ideally, I'd finish tomorrow. Realistically? Probably Tuesday. Today I read 71 pages.

Books finished this week: 2

Slated | Teri Terry

Another £0.99 Kindle book. Been meaning to read this one for literal YEARS.

Foretold | Rinda Elliot

Forecast | Rinda Elliot

Foresworn | Rinda Elliott

I love love love these covers, especially the third one. These were dirt cheap on Kindle, especially for new releases, and they're about Norse mythology and prophecies and powerful ladies, all of which I am super into. They're also pubbed by Harlequin/Mira, home of two of the most amazing series (Soul Screamers; Blood of Eden) so I trust they'll be good.

Poison Study

Magic Under Glass

Magic Under Glass (Review)

Magic Under: Magic Under Glass | Jaclyn Dolamore

Published by: Bloomsbury, February 1st 2010

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Fairy lore

Pages: 225

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Nimira is a music-hall performer forced to dance for pennies to an audience of leering drunks. When wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to do a special act - singing accompaniment to an exquisite piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it is the start of a new life. In Parry's world, however, buried secrets stir. 

Unsettling below-stairs rumours abound about ghosts, a mad woman roaming the halls, and of Parry's involvement in a gang of ruthless sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. When Nimira discovers the spirit of a dashing young fairy gentleman is trapped inside the automaton's stiff limbs, waiting for someone to break the curse and set him free, the two fall in love. But it is a love set against a dreadful race against time to save the entire fairy realm, which is in mortal peril. 

I had a kind of kerfuffle in the middle of this book, by which I mean I had a stress meltdown, threw the book away, and vowed never to read it again, not because the book had done anything wrong, but because the year is in that awful liminal time where I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. But spontaneous meltdowns aside, once I sat down and got proper into this book, I loved it.

The characters are lovely and driven, and the relationship is just so damn cute. Erris is trapped in the form of an automaton and, without knowing anything about his situation, only that he's trapped and needs help, Nimira vows to make him a man again. This book is just utterly, disarmingly charming. It's so lovely and cute and just what I needed. It was serious without feeling too serious, light without being vapid, had a lively world without massive descriptive dumps, and it was fantastical while still dealing with very real racial issues. There was even a mad wife stuffed in a tower and don't tell me that doesn't interest you (she's magically badass, communicates with the dead, and saves the day. she's my fave.)

Do yourself a favour and read this super cute book.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆