Tag: adult

Reviews

The City Of Dusk by Tara Sim

theelvenwarrior1 Comment

*Spoiler free*

Thank you so much to Orbit and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

The Four Realms—Life, Death, Light, and Darkness—all converge on the city of dusk. For each realm there is a god, and for each god there is an heir. But the gods have withdrawn their favor from the once vibrant and thriving city. And without it, all the realms are dying. Unwilling to stand by and watch the destruction, the four heirs—Risha, a necromancer struggling to keep the peace; Angelica, an elementalist with her eyes set on the throne; Taesia, a shadow-wielding rogue with rebellion in her heart; and Nik, a soldier who struggles to see the light— will sacrifice everything to save the city. But their defiance will cost them dearly.

I knew I wanted to read this book when I heard it was a multi realm dark fantasy, with each realm having a god, and each god having an heir. And the realms are now sealed from each other, because the gods have withdrawn their favor. It sounded freaking incredible, and I was very eager to read it! Trigger warnings: mentions of parental abuse, grief, self-harm, blood, gore

Continue reading “The City Of Dusk by Tara Sim” →
Reviews

Daughter Of The Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

theelvenwarriorLeave a comment

*Spoiler free*

Thank you so much to Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for the e-ARC!

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind. Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince. To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

I’ve wanted to read this book since the first time I heard about it and found out it was about a girl who lived on the moon, and went on a quest to save her mother, who was imprisoned there. It sounded absolutely incredible, and I had seen so much love for it online. I was so stoked to read it.

Continue reading “Daughter Of The Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan” →
Reviews

For The Wolf by Hannah Whitten

theelvenwarrior1 Comment

*Spoiler free*

53418394
Thank you so much to Orbit and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods. Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again. But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.

It’s a forest and wolf book. About the first daughter being for the throne, and the second daughter being for the Wolf. But the Wolf is not the monster that the legends have made him out to be. I mean, that sounds right up my alley and I was desperate to to read this. It was a forest and a wolf book. It has magic. Yes, I wanted to read this very badly. Trigger warnings

Continue reading “For The Wolf by Hannah Whitten” →
Uncategorized

The Wolf And The Woodsman by Ava Reid

theelvenwarriorLeave a comment

*Spoiler free*

Thank you so much to Voyager and Netgalley for the e-ARC!

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered. But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother. As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

I saw a flash of a picture of this book for a giveaway and was practically sold. Then I saw a flash on the description, a girl who has no magic because she has been abandoned by the gods, based on Hungarian history and Jewish myth, and the only survivors of a monster attack being Évike, the main character, and the cold, one eyed captain of the Woodsman. Then I basically fell head over heels for this book and definitely, definitely, wanted to read it. Trigger warnings: torture, antisemitism, physical abuse by parental figures, vomiting, animal death, self-harm, gore, body horror

Continue reading “The Wolf And The Woodsman by Ava Reid” →
Reviews

Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

theelvenwarrior2 Comments

*Spoiler free*

The Emperor needs necromancers. 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.

I feel like I’ve seen so much of this book pretty much everywhere and most of what I’ve seen is a whole lot of love. So, of course I was intrigued. Basically, all I knew of this book going into it was lesbian necromancers in space, but not quite lesbian necromancers in space because that selling point wasn’t exactly what everybody was saying it was. Honestly, that was enough for me. It looked and sounded dark and gritty. Plus, skeletons are cool! Trigger warnings: graphic violence, gore, murder, mass murder, human sacrifice, many conversations about suicide, death, death of children, talk of depression, grief depiction, trauma depiction, loss of a loved one, lots of blood depiction, self-harm to get blood, and mentions of cancer.

Continue reading “Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir” →
Reviews

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

theelvenwarriorLeave a comment

*Spoiler free*

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

Before this book came out, I feel like I’d see it here and there, and it sounded it interesting, but I didn’t jump on it right away. Though, as the release date crept closer I kept hearing about how awesome this book was. After seeing so much love for it, I was intrigued and wanted to give it a shot. Adult books have been a bit iffy for me lately, so I was a bit nervous going into it, but I knew I wanted to give it a shot anyway. A ship carrying a harmless man, cloaked in destiny, and captained by a women with a song who can calm waters and warp a man’s mind. And some kind of promise that man just might end up being a villain. Oh yes, I wanted to give it a shot indeed. Trigger warnings: alcohol, blood magic

Continue reading “Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse” →
Reviews

Parasite by Mira Grant

theelvenwarriorLeave a comment

*Spoiler free*

DAFAA0E9-D571-458D-BEBF-44F028A8B63A

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease. We owe our good health to a humble parasite – a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system – even secretes designer drugs. It’s been successful beyond the scientists’ wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them. But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives…and will do anything to get them. 

After reading Into The Drowning Deep, I knew I wanted try more books by this author (and books she’s written under her other name!). I stumbled across a thread the author did on Twitter about some of the books she’s written and it made it easy to get a quick overview of a lot of them. I wanted something on the horror side, so parasites and medical horror seemed like a great place to go!

Continue reading “Parasite by Mira Grant” →

Reviews

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

theelvenwarrior2 Comments

*Spoiler free*

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But surprises aren’t always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school. For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . . Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

I’ve been wanting to read this book for a long time. I’ve heard so many amazing things about this book, especially from people I know I have similar tastes too and eager to take to always take their recommendations. I knew it was dark, I knew it would probably be on the denser side, I knew it would have war in the realm of high fantasy. I wasn’t sure how exactly I would feel about it, since these kinds of books tend to be hit or miss for me, but I was very, very eager to give it a shot. Trigger warnings: drug use, substance addiction, self-harm, racism, misogyny, genocide, bullying, abandonment, abuse, animal death, animal cruelty, brutal torture, brutal killing, brutal rape (off screen, but still incredibly violent)

Continue reading “The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang” →

Reviews

Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

theelvenwarriorLeave a comment

*Spoiler free*

Thank you so much Avon for the e-ARC!

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamourous family’s mansion. The next items? Enjoy a drunken night out. Ride a motorcycle. Go camping. Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex. Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage. And… do something bad. But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job. Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit. But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…

This is such a special book to me. Thank you so much to Avon for giving me the e-ARC, I’m so happy to have read it! I knew I wanted to read this book. I share a name with the main character, which is cool in of itself, but the Chloe is also plus sized, has chronic pain, and she gets cat. I’ve dealt with chronic pain, I’m plus sized, and I adore cats. It was so cool to see a main character that was like me in so many ways. Trigger warnings: aftermath of an abusive relationship, mentions of an abusive relationship (there is a warning in the beginning of the ARC I read and I assume it’s going to be in the final copy as well, which I appreciate so much)

Continue reading “Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert” →