Rebecca Nicole

The Sunlit Ruins focuses on two Mexican American teen cousins who don't get along, but have to work together when they stumble upon magical creatures and deities, and get chased around Mexico City.

I really enjoyed Ada and Miry's journey. They are trying to figure out who they are and how to fit in when they are both split between two cultures. The two girls are often at odds with each other as they try to identify with different sides of themselves. I loved that we got to see from the perspectives of both Ada and Miry because we as readers get to see them feeling like they are falling short while the other one is perfect.

I loved the character moments between the two cousins, especially as they started sharing more of themselves and their insecurities with each other. They start to realize that they are both struggling with similar things.

That said, they argue a lot about petty things. It did get a little tiring, especially after the midpoint of the story when I thought they had made up. I guess it is realistic that there would be some left over arguing while they try to rebuild their relationship.

I also loved the adventure the characters had to go on, and the ways they tried to solve the puzzles. I especially loved when they were trying to figure out what was happening to them and searching the internet only to turn up AO3 fanfic. It was a fun nod to the fact that they are experiencing things usually only found in stories.

The magic was very unique and had consequences for using it. Both girls had to figure out how to use their magic and how to replenish it while trying to track down clues and survive the many obstacles along the way. The girls are going on a quest of self discovery while they are learning about the past in this fast paced adventure.

I found the ending very satisfying. As a consequence of the magic, Ada and Miry are forced to make sacrifices that will continue to affect them after the pages of this book are closed.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, so maybe my disappointment with this book is on me, with my expectations set too high. But at the same time this was advertised as a deeply personal historical fantasy based on the author’s family history, while it was actually an alternate universe Alina x The Darkling story.

My full review for this book is on my booktube channel, where I explain why this felt like an alternate universe Alina x The Darkling

The beginning was great, and I loved the first chapter as it really sets the stage for things to come. We are introduced to several of our main characters and their situations. We have Luzia who is a maid in a not so wealthy house, and unhappy with her position. She has magic, but since it comes from her Jewish family and is performed with a mix of languages, she knows she could be killed for using it.

We also have Valentina, who is trapped in a loveless marriage and longs for companionship, while being isolated by societal expectations. Because of this she often employs cruel attention seeking and controlling tactics on the two servants in her house.

The first few chapters of the book we are told that this story doesn’t end well and there are small things that happened that cause a domino effect. I generally find this premise interesting, but the problem is, looking back on this part of the book, I stopped believing that it was actually these small things that made a difference. Luzia was too power hungry and ambitious not to get caught eventually. Sure the bread incident might have been what tipped Valentina off, but Luzia was careless. She freakin’ fixed the torn dress right in front of Valentina. And you can’t convince me that Luzia actually thought Valentina’s wrath was better than her interest. Luzia revels in the attention. She wants people to notice her and notice how powerful she is. She was going to show off eventually, bread incident or not.

At times, I liked that we focused on a power hungry ambitious character. It was interesting to see how far she would take things, how far she could climb in social status before falling. But it got old when this was Luzia's only personality trait. I didn’t feel like the characters were well rounded, which might be why I felt that I was kept at arm's length from the characters. I had trouble getting immersed in the story.

I really enjoy Leigh Bardugo’s writing. She has some great punchy lines!

"Luzia saw her reflection in the goblet, changed but unchangeable, made perfect and ruined all the same"

I love this one, though it feels like a Grishaverse quote.

“She could be safe. ‘I'd rather be powerful” she whispered to no one”

Oooh I was so ready for a corruption arc!

“But did he deserve to die?”

“Death doesn’t come to those who deserve it. I can attest to that.”

The book is written using modern language, so if that is something that breaks your immersion in a historical novel, then this one is not for you. It is something I notice, but it doesn’t take me out of a book, so it worked fine for me.

Overall, I'm glad I read it, but I think this is my first Bardugo book that I've read and won't be rereading

December 2022
OH MY GOSH THAT ENDING THO

November 2023
I'm really glad I gave this book a second try! I have now reread it because I love the writing and the atmosphere and the characters!

My full thoughts (and my adventures making November cakes can be found on my youtube channel

Review from January 2017, preserved for comparison purposes:

DNF page 80 ish

I'll admit that I did not give this one much of a chance. But the pace is soooo sloooow, the characters are uninteresting, and nothing at all has happened. I looked at a few reviews to see if it is worth continuing, and decided to ditch it when I read the race is not until the very end and only lasts about 10 pages. Umm, no.

The narrators for the audio book are awesome.

I liked this book, but it suffers from two very important things - it is a prequel, and inevitable comparison to Legends and Lattes.

The prequel problem:
I like the idea of characters and people that come into our lives and mean something to us, perhaps even change us, but are only in our lives for a season. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I find it quite as interesting in fiction as I do in real life. This is a prequel, which means the stakes ultimately don't matter and the relationships aren't lasting.

Part of what made Legends and Lattes so cozy was the found family trope. Viv is new in town, and she develops friendships along the way. People who come to see her vision and support her in her journey.

When we meet the characters in Bookshops and Bonedust we already know they are not going to remain in Viv's life. It's a bold story choice. I respect it. But I didn't love it.

The Comparison problem:
This book takes place in the same world, with the same main character as Legends and Lattes. It is impossible not to compare these books.

The version we see of Viv in Bookshops and Bonedust is a lot younger and more impulsive. And I'm going to say it - less likable. She is even occasionally downright rude. I absolutely hated how she was so nosey about the local romance author in town, and wanted to know if the author and her butler were in a relationship. Viv commented to several people that she wondered if the author took inspiration from her romantic relationship with the butler, and even asked the butler himself!!

Maybe this was inspired by how insensitive fandom communities can be at times about people's personal lives. But it is not funny. It is just plain rude and none of your freakin' business!! I hated that our main character, who we are supposed to love, took part in the ugly side of fandom.

However, this part of the story may actually be helped by the fact that this is a prequel. We know how Viv's story progresses, and we know she is a much better person in 20 years time.

Other things of note:
This book at times felt like it was trying to cater to the romantasy crowd, especially with the books that Viv likes to read being romantasy books. Legends and Lattes did blow up on tictok, and while I'm not a part of that particular side of the book community, I get the impression romantasy is very popular there. I'm just not sure this book actually accomplishes much with the romance angle. Our main character has a romantic fling with someone we know isn't end game. It's a bold choice. I respect it. In fact, I kind of like it. Past lovers can make an impact on us, for good or ill. But I wasn't invested in their romance. I'm not sure if this is because I already knew that the relationship ends, or if it is from the lack of romantic tension in those scenes. As I'm not a romance reader, I'm fine with that. I just found it odd given the overall romantacy vibes I was getting from the books Viv reads, and the commentary on how books mirror real life.

Everything in the book felt like the first book taken up a few notches, except the starting a business side of things. I actually wish the book had spent more time revitalizing the bookshop. The books about reading that I love most focus on the book collection side of reading, rather than preaching to the choir by telling the reader how great reading is. Spending more time working on the bookshop would have brought out more vibes similar to the first book.

This book had much more action than the first book. While remaining somewhat low stakes and lacking real tension (it is a prequel afterall) we have serious things going on in the story. Viv is being stalked, both by mysterious characters in the streets, and in Viv's dreams. It is a situation she can't escape from. A conspiracy related to the necromancer Viv was hunting when she was injured is brewing and threatening the livelihoods of those in this small town. The second half of the book is dedicated to rooting out that plot, while continuing the day to day happenings of this small town.

The best new character in this book was quite literally a bag of bones. I'm not sure I can say more without spoiling things xD

While this book lacks the same charm the first book had, and I doubt I'll reread this one, I am still glad I read it. It is a great book to read inbetween heavier books. It was a fun, cozy fantasy romp.

This was a fun, quirky, weird fairy tale retelling. I found it cute and the characters entertaining while I was reading it, but the story wasn't really compelling. I put the book down half way through, and didn't pick it up again for over a week.

We have a knight trying to rescue a girl in a tower. Except nothing is as it seems. We also have Toadling, the girl's guardian, who is trying to keep the world from finding what is in the tower.

I enjoyed the flashbacks and slow reveal of the story. We have a knight now trying to find a way into the tower, and we have flashbacks to why the girl is there in the first place. I was a little confused how much Toadling was telling the knight, and if the flashbacks was her explaining the story or not. The current day story also progressed very slowly, and the most interesting parts were the flashbacks.

I expected this to take place in a secondary world, so I was thrown out of the story a little when it started mentioning real world religions. That is probably due to my expectations though, and not the story.

I enjoyed the ending, with Toadling thinking about her future for the first time. Overall it was cute and charming, but not one I'm likely to reread.

“Terrible pirates, they were. No sense of self-preservation.”

This is one of the most fun fantasy books I have ever read.

This wasn't what I expected at all, and I do feel like the pitch is slightly misleading. But I'm glad I picked it up, because it was so much better than I expected.

This is a historical fantasy book set in the 12th century middle east. It features a middle aged protagonist who has already retired from her younger pirating days. Unfortunately for her (fortunately for us readers), she is forced out of retirement and has to get the crew back together. That's the whole first half of the book, before the adventure really begins. Getting a crew together, especially a reluctant crew, is one of my favorite tropes, so I was having a blast with this book from beginning to end.

The crew is an absolute delight. I love stubborn Majed, who has left pirating behind him and only wants to live an honorable life now. And the poisoner Dalila and her schemes are enough to keep anyone on their toes.

This book also has tropes I don't usually like, but it presented them in a way that made me fall in love with it. I don't usually like paranormal romance stories, but the marriage to a demon in this book is one of the best plot lines.

The fantasy elements are only in the story subtly at first, but towards the end we have a full on fantasy adventure, complete with magical creatures, magic, and mayhem. Honestly, my interest waned slightly the more magical the story became. But I was invested enough in the characters to want to know what happened next.

This is the first book I've read by Shannon Chakraborty, and I want to read everything she writes now. I rarely give out the favorite author designation, especially if I haven't read multiple books by the author, but this book makes me want to break my own rule.

I listened to the audiobook while reading the physical book, and I highly recommend the audiobook. The physical book is gorgeous, with decorated pages. But the audio narrators really elevate this story. lameece Issaq reads with such emotion and takes on the character so thoroughly that I never once doubted that she really was Amina. That's a hard act to follow, but Amin El Gamal, who narrates the scribe, does so with ease. My only complaint is sometimes the characters would talk to someone off page, and the audio was too quiet for those parts compared to the rest when I was listening with earbuds.

See full review on my youtube channel

Very gripping yet very enraging.

I understand the point of the book was how easy it was to accept the way things are, even if those things are horrible. And the complexities of caring for people who perpetuating those horrible things.

But

Dana is way too accepting of a rapist. She even encourages her ancestor into accepting being raped, and is happy when they have a child together. Would I really want my ancestor to be raped just so I could exist?! I'm not sure my family tree or existence is worth someone else's pain and suffering. Of course if it hadn't been Rufus, it could have easily been someone else. Who knows what would have happened to Alice if Rufus wasn't around. But Dana's attitude still feels icky.And then Dana kills Rufus when he tries to rape her. That seems very hypocritical


This is also a book about a concept. I would have preferred it be a book about characters. We didn't see the deeply intense internal personal conflict that could have easily arisen from a story like this.

This book is basically the bookternet. Everyone single character in this book is messy and at least somewhat problematic.

There were two main discussions this book wanted to have. Firstly, where do we get our inspiration. Obviously our protagonist is in the wrong because she literally stole her dead friend's manuscript and is using it as her own. But her dead friend also has some skeletons in her closet as far as inspiration for stories is concerned.

And of course we have the discussion that is highlighted in the title Yellowface. Our protagonist is a white women telling the story of asian people. But her dead friend also told stories from experiences she herself never had.

This book asked A LOT of questions and never really answers them, but instead asks the reader to think on them.

See more of my thoughts on my booktube channel my Yellowface review

See my video review on youtube by clicking here

I don't think I'll ever get tired of rereading the Temeraire books. This is my 5th reread and I love it just as much as when I first read it.

The common pitch of the Temeraire books is Napoleonic War plus dragons, which is the setting for these books, but I feel that's not the best way to describe them. Sure they fight some battles, but the story is focused on relationships and we see a lot of the day to day of the characters. In some ways it almost feels like a cozy fantasy. At the same time, it deals with heavy themes, so that might not be the best way to describe it either. Maybe the word I'm looking for is character driven.

At the start of the book we meet a naval captain named Laurence as he captures a French ship and finds a dragon egg aboard.

Laurence has heard that bonding with a dragon from the moment it hatches is very important, and he reluctantly becomes the dragon's companion, which requires him to give up his ship and naval career to join the dragon airforce. The airforce is not well regarded, and Laurance is forced to confront his own negative opinion of the airforce while he grows increasingly fond of his dragon companion, Temeraire.

And what a delightful dragon Temeraire is! Temeraire is enthusiastic and inquisitive and has an almost puppy light energy. He wants to go flying, explore new places, and have his chance in battle, because he finds it all very exciting. He is also an intelligent breed of dragons and convinces Laurence to read to him about science, history, and mathematics. Laurence is not a strong reader, but his love for Temeraire outweighs his dislike of reading.

The bond and friendship between Laurence and Temeraire is really what keeps me coming back to these books. I find them delightful to read about!

Temeraire is also a dragon who is delighted by gold and jewels. One of the most beautiful scenes is where Laurence is commenting to Temeraire that he isn't wealthy enough to provide gold hoards and Temeraire says “I should rather have you than a heap of gold, even if it were very comfortable to sleep on.” And then later Temeraire asks Laurence if he'd rather give up dragon riding and go back to the navy, Laurence responds “I'd rather have you than any ship in the navy.” Gaah! Bookending that plot point with them choosing each other is just so beautiful

Lawrence has a strong sense of duty and patriotism, which is why he agreed to become a dragonrider in the first place - he knows how desperate England is in need of more dragons. But Temeraire does not share this sense of duty, and often questions why they must do things they don't like. This is a theme that continues throughout the series, as Temeraire pushes Laurence to really think about his positions.

To hear my spoiler thoughts, see my video review

Despite this being a murder mystery, I think this was the least action packed and most cozy of the books so far. I quite liked seeing a more day to day look at the Murderbot stories. Murderbot's dedication to Mensah's security and disagreements with local security personal was amusing. I'm really enjoying reading through this series

Wow, what a follow up to the first book! This one does not disappoint

One of my absolute favorite things in books is really well executed foreshadowing. It makes the reveals at the end so much more mindblowing when I realize how all the pieces fit together. This book has all of that, and it was so awesome

Marcellus remains the most irritating character, because he is so dumb and rash and can't act to save his life (literally). But he did have a really nice character arc and grow up since the beginning of the story. I look forward to this arc continuing in the next book.

Also, Alouette and Sparkles (if you know, you know) together are just an awesome power team. I loved the crew that formed in this book and it was exciting to see how things progressed.

I really felt like everything that could go wrong did in this book, and it hurts. But that's good I guess because I'm invested in the story

Only negative of this story is the cliff hanger ending. Argh. This book gets a slight pass because it really does feels like the trilogy is one big story that couldn't be told in one or two books, and they had to split it up somewhere

This book was very different from what I expected. It is more contemplative and an exploration of ideas than I expect from a thriller.

I would have loved to explore the ethics of uploading someone's consciousness into another body, and how you have a body without a consciousness in the first place, but this book didn't explore that. Instead it explored revenge and the human capabilities for violence juxtaposed with the mammoth's peaceful nature - which was interesting to explore!

There were a lot of interesting ideas presented here, but I would have loved it if more of them were explored. Ultimately I was underwhelmed by this book, but I am interested in checking out more books from this author

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley

I'm finally reading books about characters who love books that actually work for me! Even more interesting is we have an illiterate side character who ends up being very helpful in taking care of the library.

This is a world where books come alive, and can be dangerous. We open with our main character Alex, who is apprentice to a librarian, finding the librarian has been killed by one of the books he was reading. Alex then become caretaker of the royal library, which has been left in disarray, possibly because of the murderous books.

I loved Alex's determination to be true to himself, even when so many people are trying to discourage him from becoming a librarian. He's headstrong and stubborn, but he acknowledges that it doesn't always lead to the best outcomes when he loses his temper with those around him. The libraries themselves were simply magical, and a little mysterious. I loved that all the librarians have literal pages that follow them around and assist them. It was so cute!

I will definitely reread this one when I want a fun, magical story

I loved this as much as the first two books! It had some really great moments and conversations between the characters. I'm really happy Murderbot is back together with its crew from book 1. Finally some reoccurring side characters! I loved the questions this brought up, like Mensah's conversation with Murderbot about why it likes Sanctuary Moon so much. This also touches on what makes someone human, and where robots fit in a human world.

I also loved that Murderbot was trying to offer other bots freedom, instead of just fighting and killing them

This might be my favorite Murderbot book so far

This is my least favorite of the series so far. Perhaps it is because I read Artificial Condition the day before reading this one, but the story felt rather repetitive. If I wasn't doing a readalong for these books, I'd probably take a break before starting the next book. Hopefully it doesn't recycle the same plot again

The best part of this installment was Murderbot quoting a tv show in attempt to deescalate a combat situation. Brilliant

Easily one of my favorite books! I read it so fast because I had to know what happened next. Now feel like I need to reread it to fully explore all the themes. I don't think I've ever fallen in love with a book or author this fast

My full review can be found on in this video on my youtube channel



“Then find out. Find out the nature of the Cosmos”

Ren thought it was somewhat unreasonable to ask her to puzzle out what philosophers and theologians had been trying to answer for millennia, but she returned to the library. And came back with more questions still.

“But how does the existence or nonexistence of the gods affect me? Why does it matter how the universe came to be?”

“Because you're part of it. Because you exist. And unless you want to only ever be a tiny modicum of existence that doesn't understand its relation to the grander web of things, you will explore.”

“Why should I?”

“Because I know you want power.” He tapped her forehead again. “And how can you borrow power from the gods when you don't understand what they are?”

- Chapter 9 (6:40)

Les Mis plus Lunar Chronicles is a good way to describe this

I know the Les Mis story well, but this retelling changes enough that I'm still left guessing what will happen

It's pretty fast paced, but also focuses on the characters enough to really understand motivations behind each character's actions

I listened to the audiobook, and I'm basically obsessed. It's been a while since a book has captured my attention so thoroughly. Fantastically told story

unfortunately ends in a pretty big cliff hanger. I have a pretty big dislike for those when they feel tacked on unnecessarily, but this one isn't bad because it feels like the story is just too big for one book and the three books are all one continuous story

I also had book two ready to dive into immediately, which helped too

Perfect series to binge read

I've heard this is a fun, cozy read about an antisocial robot who prefers to watch tv shows rather than interact with humans. For some reason that gave me the impression there wouldn't be much of a plot, so I was surprised how much action was in this book. I'd still consider it to be on the fun, possibly cozy side of things. Quite a fun read

On my third attempt to read this, I finally got into the story. I just had to push that that incredibly dull and boring first half.

Honestly the plot wasn't that impressive, basically one big chase sequence with far too many references to the movies, but I'll give it a pass since it kept me entertained and I kept wanting to listen to more of the audiobook.

Speaking of which, like all Star Wars books, the audiobook is great.

Thrawn is totally uninteresting and his scenes are boring. Hopefully he will develop into a better villain for the series.

Mara Jade was the most interesting part of the story. (not quite as interesting as my girl Vestara Khai, but this is only Mara's introduction after all) I basically know what happens with her story line though, which kinda takes the punch out of it, but I'm still looking forward to actually getting to know Mara Jade better as a character rather than just a general story line.


Noted inconsistancies
- Luke can't understand R2's beeping without his ship's read out (and we are told such since he can't understand R2 when he ship loses power) but later Luke and R2 are in different rooms, again without power and no way to display a read out, and they hold a whole conversation, and understand each other perfectly.
- Unless I'm mistaken, Thrawn, or at least Pellaeon, was aware that Luke was on the planet yet later act like they didn't know

I knew I was going to love this book from the very beginning. Well, as long as it had a decent ending I would love it. It did not disappoint.

The themes about parental abuse and forced isolation really spoke to me. Cordelia was way braver and more bold than I’d expected of anyone who has been abused their whole life, but I loved it. It made it feel like there was hope for getting out of awful situations.

This book was doing so much. It was dark, and cozy, and charming. T. Kingfisher has a way of telling dark, horrible, terrifying stories in a way that feels almost cozy and charming. The middle part of this book reminded me a little of Pride and Prejudice, but then something would happen to remind me how dark and twisted this story actually was.

I love Heaster as a protagonist and I love that we have an older person as a main character in the story. I also love that Heaster kept referring to the sorceress as Doom in her head. She used the expectations of old people against the sorceress in the best way possible, and often in amusing ways.

Seeing from both Hester and Cordelia’s perspective really helped paint a better picture of what was going on. Cordelia is socially awkward and doesn’t know how to handle many of the situations thrust upon her, but she knows that her mother is a sorceress and she knows some of her mother’s plans. While Hester might not know everything that is going on, she has a much better grasp on the social dynamics than Cordelia. In addition, we get to see Cordelia’s awkwardness both from Cordelia herself, and from an outsider.

As painful as it was to see Cordelia try and often mess up in social situations, I also loved that she was finally getting out of the isolation she had grown up with. I also love the conflicted feelings Cordelia has when she meets another sorceress who is really nice to her. It forces Cordelia to see things from a perspective she might not have encountered otherwise.

The side characters are wonderful. Practically all of them felt very alive and real. We have so many fun characters to hang out with too!

Basically I loved everything about this book. It’s one of my favorite T. Kingfisher books, and one I will definitely be rereading.

SPOILERS!!!

Also Cordelia is definitely a sorceress too, but she doesn’t realize it. Aaaah!!