Weekly Wrap Up – 3.03-3.09

I'm back with my scheduled weekly updates after a few-week-long brain break. Sorry for not keeping up with things, but sometimes I just don't really want to be on the internet. You can read this short post if you want to know more.

This week in the book world:

Oh, no! People are surprised that Barnes & Noble didn't treat the Oathbound release in the same way it treated Onyx Storm. It's almost like they're a giant corporation that chooses profits over people. If only there was a pattern of previous behaviors that they could have predicted this. If only they could choose better places to spend their money, you know, like indie bookstores that threw parties and had signed stock and special swag and everything for this release.

Can't wait til the next time this exact thing happens.

This week's publishing news:

Excited for Luke Larkin's debut, House of Hands, which was pitched as an "atmospheric Western with a paranormal twist, in which a girl in the Montana Territory sets out to find her father after he is carried off by an otherworldly creature".
Kelly Andrews, author of Your Blood, My Bones, announced a new duology. The Gravewood, was described as "supernatural romance with dystopian elements, about a Deaf girl living in post-climate collapse New England who offers up her blood to the cunning young leader of a local vampire cartel in exchange for desperately needed supplies". Sign me up.
New John Wiswell's!!! The Dragon Has Some Complaints, which is about "a dragon whose three heads bear three mismatched personalities and the dragon rider trying to befriend all three heads in time for them to save the world together"
Queer romantasy alert! Sarah Glenn Marsh's We Could Be (Anti)Heroes, "pitched as gay Lord of the Rings, a m/m romantasy in which ex-best friends, the descendants of heroes, must team up to find treasure in a haunted swamp"

This week's new releases:

Oathbound by Tracy Deonn (YA, Fantasy)
Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid (YA, Dystopian)
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (Adult, Fantasy)
They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran (YA, Horror)
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Adult, Literary)
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (Adult, Dystopian)
The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica (Adult, Horror)

What I read this week:

The Devils (Finished):

THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING. The characters, the comedic timing, the storytelling. This book goes up there with Shades of Magic and The Scholomance as one of my favorite adult fantasy series. It made me laugh out loud in an embarrassing fashion and also made me cry. I'm not over it.

The Scorpion Queen (Finished):

This was... fine. I really liked the premise, but the pacing was so weird. It's not a long read, but it felt like it was dragging on for forever. I was also so disappointed when I got to the end and realized it was being set up a series. I will probably not be reading the next one.

Fable for the End of the World (Finished):

Fable for the End of the World has burrowed its way into my soul in ways I cannot even begin to describe. It has all of my favorite things... sapphic longing, enemies-to-lovers arc, dystopian setting... you know, the works. It’s a quick, easy-to-fall in love with read that will have you going back to the nostalgia of 2010s teen fiction.

One For My Enemy (75%):

If you're looking to get into Olivie Blake's writing THIS is where you should start. I love her books, but as I've said many, many times–she's not for everyone. One for My Enemy gives you a good look at her usual tone/storytelling approach, but with a much more traditional narrative approach. Also, it's endlessly quotable. Like, some seriously gorgeous moments. Join my Fable book club if you want to read a few I've pinned.

Brother Brontë (50%):

Lol, I'm supposed to have this finished by Book Club tomorrow. It's not very long, but I'm kind of hating it. The descriptions of the setting and the prose style is hard to describe, but it spends so much time describing things without actually telling you anything. Does that make any sense? Probably not. It's also structured in "4 Books," and they each have a different narrative style, which is kind of chaotic.

Oathbound (10%):

I swear to god if any of you spoil this book for me I will throw my phone/laptop/ipad into the nearest ocean and then I will drive to your home and throw yours in the next nearest ocean.