A Study in Drowning

By Ava Reid

376 pages

YA Fantasy 

Owlcrate Special Edition 

It is a beautiful book. You can't see the lovely pearly sheen in this photo. 

back of dust jacket

There's a whole other cover inside the dust jacket.

And the actual book is pretty too. Although mine does have a couple of odd wrinkles. 

Author letter and signature page

First page.

So she is an architecture student who is selected to design updates to the ramshackle house of a recently dead famous author. While there she gets to know a literature student who is secretly trying to debunk the author. 

Overall I didn't really like this story as much as I kept wanting to. I didn't love the characters, the creepy wasn't as intense as I wanted, and I figured out the twist maybe half way through the book.  

I loved this though. 

And this was beautiful and sad. 

It is a stand alone novel. 

Garden of the Cursed

By Katy Rose Pool

YA Fantasy 

342 Pages

Hardback - Owlcrate Special Edition 

front of book (dust jacket)

back of book (dust jacket)

I really liked this book but I was so annoyed that it ended in a cliffhanger and now I have to wait for the sequel!

It was really interesting, and the magic system was well developed, and the characters were solid. I didn't expect all of the twists either, so yay!

Signature & Author letter

First page

The main character is kind of annoying, but in a way that helps the plot and makes sense with her backstory. 

inside the dust jacket

front end papers 

back end papers

gilded design on front lid of book

back lid

author info

Masque of the Red Death

By Bethany Griffin

319 pages

YA Fiction- Retelling

I just had to buy this book at the used book store. Look at it. So pretty. So intriguing. 

It's based on Poe.

It felt unique, yet I could tell where it built from his work. 

So strange to read a plague book that was published right before the pandemic. 

Author info

I liked this book a lot - and I don't mind where it ended, but there is another one with publishing date next spring, I think? 

Not sure if I'll dive back into this world or not.

My Contrary Mary & My Imaginary Mary

2 books! 

Both by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

Contrary is about Mary Queen of Scots - and shapeshifting

Imaginary is about Mary Shelley (and Ada Lovelace) and fae magic

These books were quite funny. 

Not Forever But For Now

By Chuck Palahniuk 

238 pages

Book Club - December 2023

I actually did not enjoy this. 

I just - it was so relentlessly stark. It was sad. It was gross. 

I mean, I'm pretty sure that was the point. 

But that didn't make it more appealing to me. 

I was waiting for more of a twist, but it didn't happen. 

Nigeria Jones

By Ibi Zoboi

YA Fiction 

This book was great. 

Super readable, interesting characters.

"Joy is a revolution, too"

She is a Haunting

Google books page with synopsis 

I read this pretty quickly and returned it to the library before I blogged it. Oops.

I enjoyed it. It was sometimes gross, sometimes confusing, and always beautifully written. 

Heart of Iron & Soul of Stars

By Ashley Poston

Duology

Same as last post - I'd received the first book as an Owlcrate book and finally caught up with the end. 

I loved this story. 

The Glass Spare & The Cursed Sea

By Lauren DeStefano

Duology 

I read Glass Spare a long time ago and so I got the duology from the library to read this summer. 

The funny part is that what I had thought was the end of the first book was only like the end if the first quarter of the first book. So I guess I didn't remember much!

I really liked these books. 

They Both Die at the End

By Adam Silvera 

Paperback

373 pages

YA

Is it scifi? It's like a normal modern teen romance, but also there is a service which calls you to let you know it's your last day of living. 

A student gave me this book right at the end of the school year. 

It was a good book, and full of little connections. 

I thought it was a really good read. I do think he wrote others in this world? But I don't think I'll seek them out.