New author alert! Snowy Wings Publishing is pleased to announce that we will be publishing REBEL WING, the first book in a young adult sci-fi romance saga by Tracy Banghart, in September 2024.
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฅ๐: Queen of Shadows
๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ: Throne of Glass (Book 5/8)
๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ: Sarah J. Maas
๐๐๐ง๐ซ๐: Young Adult, Fantasy
๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐: October 19, 2023 @ 11:57 PM
๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ : โ โ โโโ
At first I thought that once I read this book, maybe it'll clear out what Empire of Storms was all about and maybe once I finish, it would make me less angry. It did not. The shift between this and Empire of the Storms hurts because this book was as close to the original story as it can get, there was the idea and there was character. There was a yearning for love and intimacy that was never present in the next book. There were emotions, despite being the emotions that you wouldn't understand why the character is feeling that way, you'd still go along with it because those parts are what makes them a character, the way they act and feel predictable and unpredictable at the same time makes them sound realistic and grounded with how we perceive parts of people and their own ways of feeling and living. There were parts of this book that was never present in Empire of Storms and it just cemented my anger.
Chaol is present in this book and this is the part where he and Aelin meet each other again, and oh boy, I love the way that their characters had this friction because of how Chaol is going through this arc of trying his best to find where he must stand in the conflict and Aelin heartbroken because the person that she once loved sees her as a threat and as monster. They never miss, when they're together it's always so personal and character driven and I love every bit of it. This is also the part where they break up and it kinda pisses me off on how it was only a single page long when the author can manage to write 17 pages long of unfiltered sex scenes. It's weird but okay, sure why not.
๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐พ๐ ๐๐บ๐๐๐๐๐: ๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐, Asterin Blackbeak, Manon's cousin reveals that she fell in love with a mortal man and got pregnant. She carried the baby full-term, which is rare for witches. But the baby was stillborn. Manonโs grandmother was furious and beat her, branded her with the words โunclean,โ and cast her out of Blackbeak Keep. I did not expect such a thing to happen in a book like this, it is not that shocking at least to me because it is a story about war and all that, but something like this in a YA book caught me off guard. Not to say YA mustn't include topics like these but the way that it goes:
In the middle of it all, why must you add in the description of her breast? Not to say that you can't and you shouldn't, but it made it sound so weird especially when the scene is literally about the trauma that a woman went through in giving birth that also led to her family casting her away. That it was the moment that I realized, SJM would randomly describe boobs in random. Even with the way that Aelin wears a necklace, boobs would be shoved it there for no reason. I would understand it if it was for imagery, but the way that it's phrased and handled in context sounds more like the way that men write women more than anything.
Which is absolutely hilarious to me because in the following book, she exactly becomes that foolish and stupidly unaware because they had sex in the middle of a war on a beach. It altered my brain chemistry in a way that shouldn't be. And this is the first and last time that the book acknowledges the age difference between the two, hell, it ain't even an age difference at this point, it's a whole century gap. The Twilight era never disappeared, it only evolved. Dear heavens... This is one of the main reasons why I took out a star from my rating, it could've been an easy three stars but this had to be in the story.
One of the things that I adored about this book though was about Chaol and Dorian, their bond was solidified in this part. I don't want to get too detailed in case someone wishes to read the series Pฬถlฬถeฬถaฬถsฬถeฬถ dฬถoฬถnฬถ'tฬถ hฬถaฬถvฬถeฬถ mฬถeฬถrฬถcฬถyฬถ oฬถnฬถ yฬถoฬถuฬถrฬถsฬถeฬถlฬถfฬถ but when one of them was severely hurt to the point of death, but they weren't actually dead, one of them thought that they were and they lose absolutely every bit of patience and sense of honor in their soul and they go absolute apeshit. Like YES! THE TROPE OF ALL TIME. I love them your honor, they deserve the world. ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ.
What if you could avenge your own murder? A brilliant young woman gets a second chance at life in this debut YA tale of vengeance, court intrigue, and romance, inspired by classic Chinese tropes.
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฅ๐: Empire of Storms
๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ: Throne of Glass (Book 4/8)
๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ: Sarah J. Maas
๐๐๐ง๐ซ๐: Young Adult, Fantasy
๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐: October 12, 2023 @ 12:45PM
๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ : โ โ โโโ
I genuinely thought that since this book was 600 pages long, the plot would start at the very beginning because the last time, it ended where they were preparing for the war that I assumed would happen in this sequel. I expected action and battle about a book that is said to be about action and battle but I expected to much because literally nothing happens for the first hundreds of the book. The first three books were slow but this one is slower that I had to double check if I was actually reading the right sequence thinking that I picked up the wrong one.
Pushing through with the pace with utter stubbornness, I gave it a chance to build up the idea of recruiting fighters and training warriors or the likes that is what one would assume that'll happen, but no, it gave us an erection 5% through. I already shared my thoughts about Aelin and Rowan's relationship and this book just cemented my hatred for them. Their relationship never had the gentleness of Chaol/Celeana or the thoughtfulness of Dorian/Celeana, the patience of Dorian/Sorscha. They're straight up written as if they came from an erotica novel. Not to say that I am against erotica or dislike the idea of steamy romances, I don't mind explicit scenes in literature however, if those scenes are inserted in ways that doesn't help the pacing of the plot, show the dynamic of the relationship or add any nuance to the characterization of the characters at play then what is the point? mฬถyฬถ aฬถsฬถeฬถxฬถuฬถaฬถlฬถ aฬถsฬถsฬถ hฬถaฬถsฬถ sฬถtฬถaฬถnฬถdฬถaฬถrฬถdฬถsฬถ tฬถoฬถoฬถ yฬถoฬถuฬถ kฬถnฬถoฬถwฬถ There may be a character that is said to be hot headed and impulsive becomes hesitant in bed because the narrative may have them ruin everything that they commit to and they're afraid of ruining a moment between them and their partner, in which their partner reassures them. But no, it was just sex for the sake of sex. It was too physical and not enough emotional, not enough connection, for all the flowery language that SJM describes their longing for each other carnally, she never wrote them as anything else.
Dorian and Manon also become a thing in this book and somehow SJM places the poor guy that has trauma from witnessing Sorscha flat out getting guillotined right in front of him get: "๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ," ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ. "๐๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ." ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ. in the context of flirty banter/sexual tension with another woman. SJM remembered enough of what happened in the last book and decided to bring back for what should've been in a more painful and personal scene, but she decided it'll be better if she would just use it as a bridge for the two to have sex in the future (they did half way through the book).
Apart from Dorian's character assassination (he is no longer his own character rather a copy paste of all the other eฬถrฬถoฬถtฬถiฬถcฬถaฬถ men in the series and ACOTAR) Manon gets more spotlight only to have her become Aelin 2.0, a very special white woman who came from a very special bloodline that is destined to rule and ends up with a great warrior who they have constant arguments and sexual tension.
Apart from the never ending weirdly good looking white cast of the book, the plot wishes it was Game of Thrones with its continuous talking of politics and war. They keep talking yet nothing is ever happening until the last few chapters of the book. It's quite literally crammed in 85% in or so. The amount of things that happen in this book are plenty but at the same time nonexistent, one would think that with the number of plotlines told in a single book, it'll be a fun and engaging with many loops and turns but alas, with too much going on, nothing really came of it.
Oh and side note, this book is full of words like โmateโ, โfemaleโ, โmaleโ, โmasculineโ, โfeminineโ and all the other weirdly specific animalistic terms that ended up becoming annoying as it progressed than be a little enjoyable part of the worldbuilding. It's almost like SJM wanted to write an A/B/O novel but wanted it to be for non-furries and straight white couples who adhere to strict beauty standards.
Just four more books to go and I'll finally be free.
I never had the opportunity to read The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, so I was quite excited to discover this graphic novel adaptation of the first novel. The story was so intriguing and interesting, I really enjoyed it ! I was really impressed by the depth of the storyline, as well as the use of worldwide mythologies.
Inspired by a true story, Hoops dramatizes the historic struggle for gender equality in high school sports. Taking place in Wilkins in Indiana in 1976, it follows a group of teenagers who created one of the first high school girls basketball teams.
Meet Phoebe. Sheโs cool and insecure, talented and vulnerable, sexy and awkward, driven and confused, ecstatic and tragic. Drawn from real life, here is a bracingly honest illustrated diary of a teenage girl that captures the explosive turmoil and joy of adolescence.
Have you been looking forward to reading SHADOW THIEF, the all-new prequel to SUNBOLT by Intisar Khanani? If so, you're in luck, because it's coming in just 3 more days!
It is certainly a very fun read, perfect for fans of Wednesday or Sabrina The Teenage Witch. It is deliciously dark and I enjoyed how the themes of friendship and belonging are explored in the story.
This YA fantasy is perfect for fans of Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce. Kirkus Reviews called it โA compelling story that will leave readers anticipating the sequel.โ
I've got a small number of paperback copies of FOURTH WORLD that I'm giving away in advance of the last book in the series coming out this fall. Billed as Atlantis on Mars with time travel (and chock-full of #asexual and otherwise #queer characters)! This would also be a great gift for a teen in your life or a donation to an LGBT teen center. I'm giving these away for free but I can only ship to US addresses. Let me know if you're interested! @lgbtqbookstodon#bookstodon#YAbooks
When Elizabeth makes a discovery that throws her entire identity into question, she uses a time machine found in an abandoned house. As she catapults through time, she encounters a mysterious abandoned child, an elite gymnast preparing for Olympic Trials, and an enigmatic woman who seems to know more than sheโs revealing.
Queer Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Filipino folklore in this horror comedy about a high school stage manager who accidentally sells her soul to a demon.
In this sprawling fantasy inspired by Filipino folklore, to protect herself and her family, Rosha must impersonate the most powerful man in the empire.
Finally starting to document this again - here's my Every Speculative Fiction Book About Queer Women I read in 2023 thread. ๐ ๐ค ๐ ๐ฆ โ๐ฉโโค๏ธโ๐โ๐ฉ