Tag: sorcery of thorns

Book Reviews

Book Review: Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope that you’re all having a good day today.

Today, I am bringing you my book review for Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson.

Blurb/Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Sorcery of Thorns and An Enchantment of Ravens comes a thrilling new YA fantasy about a teen girl with mythic abilities who must defend her world against restless spirits of the dead.

The dead of Loraille do not rest.

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past.

When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being that threatens to possess her the moment she drops her guard. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her—but death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has any chance of stopping it. With all knowledge of vespertines lost to time, Artemisia turns to the last remaining expert for help: the revenant itself.

As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, her bond with the revenant grows. And when a hidden evil begins to surface, she discovers that facing this enemy might require her to betray everything she has been taught to believe—if the revenant doesn’t betray her first.

My Review:

The first thing I will say about this book is that it is an underrated masterpiece. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it, I had read both of Margaret Rogerson’s other books: Sorcery of Thorns which I loved, and An Enchantment of Ravens which I thought was okay but ended up being my least favourite book that I read in January of this year. Having mixed feelings about her books I was shocked to enjoy this one so much. An Enchantment of Ravens is very romance heavy, very little plot, Vespertine is all plot and no romance, and Sorcery of Thorns is in the middle as a mix of both of them.

Vespertine follows Artemisia and basically it is her and the voice of the being that has supposedly ‘posessed’ her as they attempt to solve the mystery of what is happening in their land. I loved the banter between the two characters, both of them are willful and stubborn and they slowly reveal their backstories to each other as they are forced into a working relationship. You are also slowly introduced to other characters who you become both trusting and nervous about, I especially loved the Captain Enguerrand.

This novel focuses a lot on the challenge of Artemisia having the weight of all these people on her, every choice she makes has an impact and being inside her head you see how her thoughts are battling, it is deeply emotional.

The other thing I loved is that it is written in a way that Margaret Rogerson could return to this world and I hope that she does.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Book Tags

The Book Boyfriends Book Tag

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. Seeing as it is Valentine’s Day today, what else could I bring you except a post celebrating some of my favourite book boyfriends. I have to say, it was hard to choose. I made a list of them all and then picked the best ones for the questions and it was a long list.

I found this Tag on Got Meghan’s Blog if you want to check out how they answered the tag.

  1. The Most Romantic Boyfriend: LORD PHILLIP STANTON from The Lady in the Tower by Marie Louise Jenson. Phillip is a bit of a rogue for most of the book but by far out of my fave book boyfriends he would be the most romantic. He is a Lord in the Tudor period brought up on chivalry and how he should treat a lady.
  2. A Dark and Moody Bad Boy With A Good Side: KAI from Powerless by Lauren Roberts. He is the epitome of dark and moody especially for the first half of the book but deep down he’s a softie, he just doesn’t want everyone to know that.
  3. Paranormal Boyfriend: WRATH from Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco. I wasn’t sure who to put to start with then I remembered, he’s a prince of hell so a demon of sorts. Which I am saying counts, okay.
  4. Boy You’d Be Friends With Benefits With: JULIAN SANTOS from Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Now, I wouldn’t be friends with benefits at all but for the purpose of this tag it would be Julian. I love him and he had to make it onto this list somewhere, so I put him here because he dresses like a cross between a circus performer and a pirate.
  5. Your Soul Mate: THOMAS CRESSWELL from Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri maniscalco. You can’t convince me otherwise. He is my favourite book boyfriend by a mile.
  6. Boyfriend You’d Venture Anywhere with: NATHANIAL HAWTHORNE from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. He’s magic, it would make life interesting.
  7. Boyfriend You Want to be Stranded on a Desert Island With: KELLEN ARGOSI from Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell. He literally spends most of the series trekking across a desert trying to survive so he must have picked up some skills from all of that which could help us.
  8. Most Badass Boyfriend: RHYSAND from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. I don’t think I need to explain this one, if you’ve read the series then I am sure you will understand.

That’s my answers! Who are some of your favourite book boyfriends?

Book Tags

Valentine’s Day Book Tag

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.

I thought it would be fun today to do the Valentine’s Day Book Tag that I found on Words About Words Blog.

  1. What book have you been given as a gift that you loved? I was given the special edition slipcase for ACOTAR for christmas the year before last, it is so beautiful that I don’t want to read that edition though, I will just read my paperback edition.
  2. What book would you like to give as a gift to someone else? It depends, I’ve given my Mum Elise Kova books as gifts before because I know she loves her books but for others even though I know they like reading I wouldn’t know where to start with gifting them a book.
  3. If you could gift a random person an non-bookish item what would it be? I would say maybe an experience, something that wouldn’t end up on a shelf gathering dust.
  4. If you could gift a random person a bookish item what would you give them? I would say probably a bookmark because everyone needs one of those.
  5. What do you say when a person gives you a gift you don’t like? I have to be polite and say thank you but also watch my face, because I know I am quite expressive and give it away so I have to be careful.
  6. Mention a book based around valentine’s day? I don’t know any specifically for Valentine’s but Plus One by Kelsey Rodkey is excellent
  7. Mention a film you love to watch on Valentine’s Day? Again not on the actual day but my favourite romcom is either Dirty Dancing or Pretty Woman.
  8. mention a few of your favourite OTPs. Where to start? Scarlet and Julian from Caraval, Elisabeth and Nathaniel from Sorcery of Thorns, Wrath and Emilia from Kingdom of the Wicked and Thomas Cresswell and Audrey Rose Wadsworth from Stalking Jack The Ripper
  9. Which fictional character would you love to see at your door with a bouquet of roses? Kellen from Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell (and Reichis of course!)

How would you answer these questions? let me know in the comments.

Book Tags

The Book Courtship Tag

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you all enjoy my answers to the Book Courtship Tag which was created by Socially Awkward Bookworm.

Phase 1: Initial attraction – a book you bought because of the cover

Phase 2: first impressions – a book you bought because of the summary

Phase 3: sweet talk – a book with great writing

Phase 4: first date- a first book of a series that made you want to read on

This isn’t the first book in the series, but it is the first book I read from the series then I went out and bought them all

Phase 5: late night phone calls – a book that kept you up all night

Phase six: always on my mind – a book you could not stop thinking about

Phase 7: getting physical – a book that you love the way it feels

Phase 8: meeting the parents – a book you would reccomend

Phase 9: thinking about the future – a book or series you will reread in the future

Phase 10: Tag someone

I tag everyone!

Book Tags

April Showers Book Tag

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing very well today. I am bringing you my first book tag of April, (and yes I say first because there will be a second one next Friday so check that out too!).

I found this tag on thissplendidshambles.com

Book With Water on the cover – Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

This is the very first book I thought of, it is covered in a blue/green wave pattern.

Classic Novel You’d Like To Curl Up On The Couch With – Emma by Jane Austen

Emma is my favourite Austen novel but honestly this question could also be answered with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte but that is kept for rainy days so it is very cosy.

A scary book to read in a rainstorm – none of them!

Scary books freak me out anyway, let alone reading it during a rainstorm.

A good book recommendation for rainy days – Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

This is a good question, on rainy days I usually like to read a nice fantasy and the last time this happened I was reading Sorcery of Thorns and that is the book I would recommend.

The characters you’d like to spend a rainy day with –

Hmm… difficult choice.. I think I would have to choose Kellen from Spellslinger because he could keep everybody entertained with his wit, then I would choose lou from Serpent and Dove because she could do some magic and bring some of the amazing sounding food from the books then I would be stuck because I don’t have a room big enough for all the people I would like to have over!

A book that has blue on the cover – the upside of unrequieted

Again, I had to go with the first book I thought of and the Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli is a bright blue all over cover.

A book with a rainy setting at some point

This is very difficult because I can’t think of a single one!

A book you wouldn’t mind using as an umbrella

Catching fire from the Hunger Games series, just because I lent it to a friend when I was in high school and she left it in her bag, outside in the rain so it is already all curled up from the water damage so a bit more rain can’t hurt it any worse than it is already.

A character you would like to share an umbrella with

ooh, another good question. It is very hard because I would choose a male character, but I am so short (literally I am only 4 foot 11, I am tiny) so whoever I would share an umbrella with would also need to be tiny and there aren’t many characters that small…. okay, I am going to choose Eve brown from Act Your age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert, she is so bubbly that she could make anyone feel positive even in the rain and I also think she is quite short.

A novel with a dry beginning but an amazing ending

I am going to choose Dangerous Women by Hope Adams because the beginning takes a long time to set everything up but the book as a whole is brilliant.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson

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Happy Monday bookish people! Today, I am bringing you my book review for the new novella set in the world of Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson.

As usual, I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.

Mysteries of Thorn Manor Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This short book is a follow up to the novel, Sorcery of Thorns, it follows Elisabeth and Nathaniel as they embark on their relationship together. In this new story the gardens and house of Thorn Manor have turned against the residents and are magically keeping them locked inside the house. I found this story extremely fun and engaging, I loved being back with the sorcery of thorns characters, it is one of my favourite books and this book still had that mystery element but in a much cosier way.

Mysteries of Thorn Manor Character:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

In this follow up you get to know the characters on a deeper level, they reveal more of their pasts. Especially Nathaniel who was very secretive in Sorcery of Thorns, it was also nice to see a lighter side to him. Elisabeth was her usual hot headed and interesting self which was great.

Mysteries of Thorn Manor Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

There’s not much more I can say here, Margaret Rogerson is one of my favourite writers, her style of writing is engaging and magical and everything I would want in a fantasy novel.

Mysteries of Thorn Manor Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall, simply because I wanted more! Give me all the sorcery of thorns novellas, I would read them all.

Synopsis:

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

I hope you all enjoyed my book review!

Book Tags

Totally Should’ve Book Tag

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today.

Today I am bringing you my answers to the Totally Should’ve book tag!

Gotten a sequel – Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

This book was left on an unacceptable cliffhanger! I was so annoyed when I read the end, I needed a sequel immediately and of course there wasn’t one. I think there is definitely more to explore with these characters that could fill a sequel.

Had a spin off series – The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

I loved this book and for me I thought there was a lot of room to go back and share more stories, maybe in a spin off series, from the apothecary when it was being used by women looking for ways to be rid of their husbands, like a series that would come before this book.

Author who should write more books – Erin Morgenstern

Erin Morgenstern is one of my favourite authors and I would love to get more books by this author.

Should have ended differently – Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Only because of that one character’s death, I personally feel that was out of place and I would have liked the ending better if it hadn’t happened.

Been a movie franchise/Had a TV series

These are two separate questions but because I am giving the same answer for both I put them together. That answer is pretty simple: all of them!

Only had one point of view

I am honestly struggling to think of an answer for this on so I’ll unfortunately have to pass on this question

Had a cover change – The Left Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

I love this book, I love this author, I do not like the cover on the one that I own. It just doesn’t fit the weird, whimsical story.

Should have kept the original cover – The A Court of Thorns and Roses series

I did not like the changed covers and now my editions don’t match because of the cover of A Court of Silver Flames!

Stopped at one book – Spin the Dawn

Without giving away any spoilers, I enjoyed Spin the Dawn a lot with the competition and magic plotline, even the little bit of romance in it but I didn’t like the plot twist event that happened near the end and is consequently the main plot in the second book, I just don’t think it needed it at all.

That’s it for this book tag! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Tags

Folklore Book Tag

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. The book tag I am doing today is the Folklore Book Tag which I found on laurensboookshelf.com but was created by lisa @A Whisper of Ink. It looks like it will be a very fun tag so I am looking forward to sharing my choices here.

The 1: A book with an ending that left you speechless

Ooh that’s starting with a difficult one… I think I am going to go with Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell because the first book in the series ends in a way I wasn’t expecting but obviously I can’t say how it ends here because of spoilers

Cardigan: A book that makes you feel happy and sad all at once

I am going to go with The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, there’s two different timelines within this book and both of them constantly made me feel happy and sad when I read it.

The last Great American Dynasty: A book with a fascinating and well-told story

I have to choose Cecily by Annie Garthwaite for this one, it is one of my favourite books of 2022 so far and it is haunting and just overall brilliant.

Exile: A book you wish you hadn’t read

I am afraid this has to be The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, I just did not enjoy it and I still own the rest of the series.

My tears ricochet: A book that made you cry uncontrollably

Books don’t make me cry like that, I might tear up but not cry uncontrollably so I don’t really have an answer for this one.

Mirrorball: A book that feels like it was written just for you

This is definitely The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, I love the magic of this book and it feels like it was the perfect book for me.

Seven: A childhood book that makes you feel nostalgic

The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton, I always loved this series as a child and I still love to reread them now.

August: A book that reminds you of summer

I honestly can’t think of a book that makes me think of summer, I am sure that as soon as I post this book tag three of them will come to my mind but right now I have no answer.

This is me trying: A book that deals with loneliness and sadness

the first book that comes to mind is Holding Up The Universe and I read that when I was in secondary school a while ago and I can’t remember it all that well.

Illicit Affairs: A book that gave you a book hangover

most recently Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan, I’m not sure why other than I didn’t love the book but I didn’t read for nearly two weeks after that book.

Invisible String: A book that came into your life at the exact right time

Caraval by Stephanie Garber definitely, I read it at a time when I was searching for a really great book about magic, fates and sisters.

Mad Woman: A book with a female character you adore

I know I have just used it but I have to go with Scarlett from Caraval, she is a headstrong yet caring female character.

Epiphany: A book that was haunting

Ooh another one I don’t have an immediate answer for… I think I have to choose City of ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Betty: A book couple that fills you with yearning

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco

Peace: A book character you’d die for because you love them so much

I think I would have to say Elisabeth from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Hoax: A book that you thought you were going to love but didn’t

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz. I loved Moonflower Murders by the same author but this one just didn’t have the same enjoyment unfortunately.

That’s it for the Folklore Book Tag, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Tags

Spring has sprung book tag!

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Happy Friday bookish people! I am excited to be bringing you another book tag today, the spring has sprung book tag!

Flowers – Look on your bookshelf, what is the most beautiful book inside and out: A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross the Illumicrate edition

This cover is just stunning, I haven’t read it yet but I’m sure that the story is just as beautiful

Grass – what is a book that you find others like way more than you did: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I have a review post up of this book but I did not like this book very much yet I hear so many people talking about how good this series is

Rain – what is a great book that lifts your spirits when you’re down: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Dew – what’s a book that made you feel alive: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

this mystery book had my heart beating very fast and that’s why I chose it as my answer for a book that made me feel alive

Storms – what’s a book that you found unpredictable: Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Rainbow – what was a book you struggled with but you were glad you finished it: Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Chilly weather – a book you couldn’t finish or didn’t enjoy: Lily by Rose Tremain

Warm weather – a book you loved and you wanted more of: any books by Kerri Maniscalco!

The stalking Jack the Ripper books series and the Kingdom of the Wicked series, I love all of them!

Green – a book you haven’t read yet but really want to: Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments

Pink – a book in which you felt a strong connection to the characters: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Purple – what’s a book that when you read it made you feel safe: I don’t have an answer for this one unfortunately.

Orange – what book do you feel is intelligently written: any Agatha Christie book

Yellow – what book puts a smile on your face: the Pages and Co series by Anna James

That’s the end of this book tag, I hope you all enjoyed it! How would you have answered these questions?

Bookmas 2021

Merry Bookmas Day 12 – 12th December – The Christmas Song Book Tag

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Happy Sunday bookish people! And Merry Bookmas day 12! I thought it would be really fun to do another book tag today. I found the questions over at thesassygeek.wordpress.com.

Let’s get into the book tag!

You’re A Mean One Mr Grinch – Name A Villainous Character You Can’t Help But Love

For this one I had to choose Victor Vale from Vicious by V E Schwab because he’s a morally grey character and as a reader you’re never really sure if he’s a good guy or a bad guy and I really liked that. I also really liked his dialogue and his interaction with other characters – he is what made the book enjoyable for me.

All I Want For Christmas Is You – Which book do you want to see under the tree this year?

I have quite a few different books on my wishlist but one of the books I really want is The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer – Name a character that overcomes major obstacles and learns to believe in themselves

There are so many characters I could choose for this but I eventually chose Zaf from Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert because at the beginning of the book Zaf has so much anxiety and he has ideas of what he wants to do but there are things holding him back and by the end his character has really grown and I loved that.

Santa Clause is Coming To Town – Which character is on the naughty list and which character is on the nice list?

I’d put Tamlin from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas on the naughty list and Elizabeth Scrivener from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson.

Frosty The Snowman – Melts your heart?

For this I thought of Cath and Levi from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell because I felt there were lots of similarities between Cath and myself and it was nice to see the romance in this book even though usually I don’t like romance at all.

Feliz Navidad – Choose A book that takes place in a country other than your own

Again, there were so many books I could choose for this one. I settled on The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden because it is one of my favourite books that I have read.

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – Which holiday themed book do you use to spread Christmas joy?

I’ve struggled to think of an answer to this question because I haven’t read any holiday themed books yet.

Sleigh Ride – A fictional character to spend the holidays with?

I haven’t got a reason for this choice but my mind instantly went to Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Baby It’s Cold Outside – A book you didn’t like and that you would sacrifice to a fire to keep yourself warm?

First of all, I wouldn’t put any books into a fire but a book that I didn’t like is a good question. I would say We Are Blood and Thunder by Kesia Lupo because I just did not like that book at all, I actually gave it to my best friend and they enjoyed it so I’m glad I gave it to her.

Do You Hear What I Hear – Which book do you think everyone should read?

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco!

That’s it for this Christmas Song book tag, I hope you all enjoyed reading my answers. What would you all have put for your answers, let me know in the comments!