quest – Cannonball Read 17

Magical Girls Grown Up

The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

November 1, 2025 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

Bingo 24: Swap Free Space for Diaspora Free Space invoked because I don’t have anything specific in mind for the Diaspora square and time is not on my side. I picked up The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry for the title. No other reason. Turns out this is actually book 2 in a series, but that doesn’t actually matter, as this story is pretty stand alone as far as I could tell. A lot is classic fantasy and romance tropes getting mixed up. Sometimes there’s […]

A very sweet adventure story, gorgeously packaged

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

March 26, 2025 by Malin 3 Comments

4.5 stars Buzzword Cover Challenge 25: Celestial (there is a big moon and several stars on the cover) What if in The Princess Bride, Buttercup didn’t sit at home and mourn for Westley when he was captured by pirates, but instead went off to try to rescue him? Of course, that would mean Buttercup had any agency at all in either the novel or the film, and she really doesn’t. But if Buttercup was a young woman named Tress, from a barren and fairly desolate […]

“Have you not shaken a kingdom to its foundations, found a door to a distant otherland, overthrown a queen? Hand you the right storybook, and you are capable of anything.”

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

February 19, 2025 by Malin Leave a Comment

Nowhere Books Bingo 2025: A fantasy book by a female author Buzzword Cover Challenge 2025: Contains books Spoiler warning! This is book 3 in the series and not the best place to start reading. This book will contain spoilers for the previous books in the series. Start at the beginning, with Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries. Intrepid professor of dryadology (faerie scholar) Emily Wilde is facing her most challenging adventure yet – reclaiming the rather terrifying faerie kingdom of Silva Lupi, where her former academic […]

Fear is a valuable commodity. It’s common sense compressed into its purest form.

The Liar's Key: The Red Queen's War #2 by Mark Lawrence

February 10, 2025 by carmelpie 2 Comments

It’s hard to play the enigmatic prince of romance when the object of your affections gets to watch you shit into the sea twice a day. ― Mark Lawrence, The Liar’s Key After finishing the first book, Prince of Fools, over Christmas, I figured I’d be done with the trilogy by the end of January. Even though the first book meandered a bit, I was invested enough in Jalan and Snorri to push through and see what awaited them on the black ice. The second […]

God gave us horses so we could run away faster.

Prince of Fools: The Red Queen's War #1 by Mark Lawrence

December 18, 2024 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

Cowards divide into two broad groups. Those paralysed by their fear, and those galvanized by it. ― Mark Lawrence, Prince of Fools I’ve always felt that the placement of a man’s testicles is an eloquent argument against intelligent design. ― Mark Lawrence, Prince of Fools Prince Jalan is the third son of the third son of the queen of Red March. Despite being a long way off from the path of succession, he’s successfully used his title of prince to maximum effectiveness. He’s a gambler, […]

“In her spare time, she looked to books or the stars for company”

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

November 3, 2023 by Malin Leave a Comment

Caseopea Tun is basically treated as a servant by her grandfather, cousin, and extended family because her mother ran away and made an ill-advised marriage. Caseopea suffers the indignities mainly because her tyrannical grandfather has promised to leave her some money once he dies. However, during another turbulent row with her spoiled cousin Martín, he reveals that their grandfather has no intention of leaving anything to Caseopea. She feels furious and rebellious, which leads to her opening the forbidden chest at the bottom of her […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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