I 💚 Books

Little about me: 30f, Taken, bookworm 🌟

Im so excited to start this little side blog about books and reading and all the little fun things that go with that 😊

Even if this is just me yapping to the wall

Im gonna rant and ramble and babble all about the things I read 📚 so if you like that feel free to stick around

I will probably post some book spoilers and will figure out a better way to format posts to hide spoilers for those who dont want them

I also might write a little!

I read a lot of spicy, smutty, nsfw books so be fair warned.

Also I am totally counting audio books

Recently I finished this

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

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And it was beautiful

The story follows a woman named Inti as she and her team of researchers and biologists work on a project to reintroduce wolves back into Scotland's wildlife. Push back from locals cause tension for the project, especially from a few extra stubborn farmers. But its not all bad. The chief of police seems nice, Inti's traumatized sister seems to be comfortable, and surely the wolves will make a difference to help the land. Right?

Well. Its not that simple. Wolves are a tough pill to swallow for these locals. Especially when livestock start to die. And Inti, raised by a woodsman and a hard detective, also starts to butt heads around town. And for someone as empathetic as Inti thats a problem.

This story has fascinating vibes to me. Inti loves nature and places the value of it high above herself and other humans. Something she learned from her father. Her twin sister may be the only exception. After all its Inti and Aggie against the world and the world is a harsh and dark place, a lesson their mother never let them forget. Inti as a character comes across as blunt and emotional, primarily angry. And shes very self aware of this. She carries a lot of weight on her shoulder. Grief, Guilt, Responsibility and a fiery desire for justice at whatever cost. There are times when she reads as flat but if anything I think that adds to her narrative and the way she puts walls up for fear of being vulnerable.

It really is an interesting look into a mind like hers. And as we dive deeper into her past and her struggles during the present, we feel more for her. We see where shes coming from. We see why its hard for her to let so much go.

Not to mention but wolves are fucking rad

The whole preserve nature and effort to leave no trace of human is a cause that feels monumental. Who hasn't been victim to the way big corporations harm the environment? Who doesnt feel dwarfed by the helplessness of the challenge?

Tell you what though. I cried. At the end of this book I actually cried. I cant even exactly tell you why. But some chord of it struck me well and good enough to bring me to tears as I turned the last page.

Its not a long story and while nothing crazy happens, you cant help but be wrapped into what Inti's story is. How it plays out and what mysteries there are draw you in almost like you could really know her. In a way it kind of reminds me of a darker, moodier hallmark movie.

Fair warning, there is plenty mention if blood, pain, violence, domestic violence, and sexual assault. While it doesnt go into grotesque detail, there are scenes that paint a vivid picture. So if those things make you uncomfortable, this may not be your cup of tea.

Would i reccomend this book? Yes. Yes I would.

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Finished!

Oh my goodness, I LOVE Epithet Erased ❤️

I love it so much. The concept. The language used. The humor. The art. The world building

Ugh! Its awesome and I want so so soooo much more. I am chomping at the but for more content. Desperate even! I highly reccomend the videos, this follow up novel to the videos, and yes I include the audiobook. Especially the audiobook because those voice actors but their whole foot into it!

In summary, this story is a 3rd person poverty following Molly Blyndeff (a girl with the power of "dumb" and an exhausted, overworked and neglected 12 year old) and Lorelai Blyndeff (Molly's older, brattier 17yo sister who would rather hide away in her reality bending worlds than be responsible)

Not to mention the hilarious and loveable characters like Trixie, Phoenica, Naven, Giovanni Potage i mean VINCENT MURDER, and of course the weirdo wizard supreme Rick Shades. Amongst other fun side characters too.

The characters are multifaceted and funny and relatable and yes maybe im biased because I love this thing so much but hey, what can I say. Its a really fun and colorful read.

My current audiobook is I Will Break You by Gigi Styx. Im about 4ish hours away from finishing this at this time.

And, well...

OK, so. I haven't been reading smut centric stuff for a while. Had to break it up a little, you know? So after I finished Onyx Storm (although thats borderline smut with how much Violet and Xaden fuck), I was like yknow what? Im gonna read some smut! Not just any smut! Stalker smut! Gimme that tasty taboo dark romance stuff right now. I will eat that up.

I dont remember when I bought the audiobook but there it was! Waiting for me to return to my depravity in my to be listened to folder. So, what the hey, I clicked play.

I almost wish I didn't

Before I go on, I definitely plan on talking spoilers. Im gonna be cracking jokes and making criticisms. So if you're a fan of the book or the author this post might not be for you. I mean absolutely no hate or disrespect towards fans or the author either. Writing and publishing is an incredible achievement at all and, honestly, props to anyone who's gone through it all and to those hoping to. I dabble in my own writing, but am not a writer. Just a silly little reader with my own silly little opinions.

Back to it.

🌟 SPOILERS AHEAD 🌟

I Will Break You (IWBY for short) follows Amethyst. A goth girl influencer who's been in a romantic pen pal relationship with a death row prisoner named Xero. Who cares that he murdered his step mom when he's so dreamy and misunderstood? Its giving those Charles Manson brides just a little bit. She's got a basically nonexistent relationship with her parents, missing memories from her childhood, some nasty scars, and some sort of illness or brain injury that causes her to jave vivid hallucinations of basically every himan sense. And right now shes super bummed because she wasnt supposed to be murdering and burying some weird internet guy, she was supposed to be getting married! To who? Xero, of course! Except she got delayed by strange blackmail containing part of her mysterious missing memories and juuuuust missed the cutoff time for prison visitation. So booo no wedding and booo no consumation. Oh and also Xero got executed. Cowabummer.

Amethyst is also severely traumatized and has gone through Some Shit (tm). Her hands aren't clean either. She murdered her groomer when she was 13 - love that. And shes murdered an online troll because he harassed her in person and threatened her life. That'd be Jake. As one does. Im kidding. But needless to say shes not having a great time right now. Its all she can do to drink vodka and let the killer fan club know. Shes realllly torn up about this. Amethyst is devastated that shes betrayed the man she loved and never even got to meet him or fuck him and now he's dead. Been there, girl.

Well. Then some weird stuff keeps happening. Her social media page gets taken down, something fucked the red velvet wedding cake in her fridge, and she starts having visions of the grim reaper/Xero. Yes. You read that right. Fucked. The. Cake. Hole in it and everything. And then she just shrugs it off! Wild!

More creepy stuff happens. Basically every male character introduced is solely there either to be a bastard or to be death fodder for our mmc psychopath. One guy gets his fingers cut off for trying to solicit sex from her in return for his tech support. He also stole her doordash, which thats just rude. One guy gets his tongue cut out and murdered just because he offered to eat her out. An offer which she refused! The ghost tried to hang both of them for it! Well, mostly the dude. Amethyst got kinda choked hard and had to play with herself while borderline hanging. Im not yucking anyone's yum but wowee.

Everything she tries to do, he ruins. She tries to get help from neighbors? Merked. She tried to write a sexy ghost story. Deleted. Goes to her mom for help? Attacked by her weird crazy uncle who shes never met or even seen pictures of. Whats a girl to do??

Like. Ugh. I get it. I do. Hes a spurned ghost man out for revenge. Understandable. He thinks she was only using him to write one of those tell all "I fell in love with a killer" books. Which, to be fair, she was. Apparently she was peer pressured into it because nobody cared about the other stuff she writes. But it personally annoys me that despite her mistakes, she did try to be there. She did feel remorse. And after he died she still stayed loyal to him. Maybe thoughts of other people but like thats just a thought crime and shouldn't be punishable by death!

I diiiid kinda like and was flabbergasted by the scene where Xero makes two rapists basically rape each other to see who lives. That was something.

And! And! Get this!

Xero. The man who was electrocuted twice AND set on FIRE.

He isn't dead. Nope. He's been alive and just been systematic in his attempts to drive this girl crazy. Living in the walls and shit like some sort of rat man. Stinky rat man. Stinky abusive rat man. He's justifying everything he does because he feels betrayed but when SHE feels betrayed by his actions too, oh no, thats different. Clearly. Barf.

I haven't finished this yet. Im very tempted not to. Its so edgy and feels like a big old nothing sandwich. It teases these taboo dark romance stuff but gives you crumbs at best. How can you make the most extreme dangerous kind of sex boring? The sex scenes are interesting at best but, at least to me, aren't exactly arousing. Again. Im not yucking anyone's yum. But the lack of care they build up for these characters doesnt make me want to cheer for them or invest my time into them and I sure as hell dont really care if they take a trip to bonetown or not.

Im probavly going to finish it because even if i dont like it, the show must go on

My current Kindle read!

So far I am only 41% through this story

Finished it!

To start im gonna give it 2.5 out of 5 stars 🌟

Since I more or less described the plot before, I'm just going to focus on my personal thoughts for this post.

🌟 SPOILERS AHEAD 🌟

I'd say overall, it was cute. The writing wasn't hard to follow or understand. And, like ive mentioned before, the new angle of a scooby doo mystery from a fan favorite side character is a fun idea. I like the setting a lot. I also really enjoyed the mystery and putting together the clues surrounding Thorn. There was teen drama that felt kind of realistic and thats always nice.

But, to be honest, this wasn't my favorite. There was a lot going on that I felt could have been maybe explored better or something. It felt like for a book that was interested in us getting to know the hex girls a little more, all we really got to know was Thorns anxiety. And yknow maybe that was the point. Struggling with peer pressure, anxiety, bullying, and friendship troubles are all very relatable topics. Personally it just kind of felt that even when the mystery was in full effect, it felt more like it wasn't.

And while the romantic subplot was cute and Velma and Thorn are cute together, I kind of wish it felt stronger or, I dont know, less of a spotlight? Im explaining this poorly but it just didnt hit me the way id hoped it would.

I think the story could have benefitted from being just a little longer. Its not bad as is, but maybe a little more could've helped. Give me more of the hex girls together. Give me more scooby gang. Give me more mysterious town founders. Give me more magic! Thorns inner voice monolog is a majority of what we see and it would've been nice to see a little more than just that.

The character changes and plot twists weren't bad, but to me they felt a little thrown in for dramatic effect rather than cohesive story telling.

I will say that for a book for ages 12-17 years old, it was age appropriate enough. It genuinely had me gasp at some parts. I had a double take moment when there was confirmed murder in a Scooby Doo story on page. It wasn't too gory or unnecessary and I appreciate that.

I enjoyed feeling like I was reading a Scooby Doo episode a lot though. And if anything else I would love to see more young adult or full adult Scooby Doo novels and such. There's a lot you could do with those. Even if you kept them in high school or aged them up you could do so much. The potential is really there for great things.

This was a cute read and a quick one too. It was fun reliving my own scooby doo era in modern times. I probably wouldn't particularly recommend it to my friends but if you wsnt to read it I sincerely hope you enjoy!

I am no author and have no official education on dissecting a story, im just a simple ready with her simple opinions.

Thanks for reading!

Side note:

My current read is A Rogue Thorn by Lily Meade

So far I am about 75% through the 242 page book. Its cute! Very teenager. Its neat to see the Mystery Inc. Gang from an outside perspective and in their home setting. It being set in this modern time, rather than the few decades earlier when the movie this is supposed to follow.

In this story the Hex Girls, after being ostracized by their hometown of Oakhaven following the chaos of the events of Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost, have moved across country. Now Thorn and her fellow eco-goth band mates/best friends are making a fresh start in Coolsville CA.

It isn't long before another mystery sucks them into the fray, however. Soon their fresh start turns rotten by the Harvest Host. Thorn fears this hoax or ghost might be her fault, especially when it seems to target her specifically.

I think its interesting getting to see a little closer look at the iconic goth girl band of our childhood. The friendship dynamic between them, the personality traits we wouldn't know from their brief highlights in movies and episodes, its all a new and fun take.

We read from Thorns perspective. Fun little tidbit here but she's like hella gay for Velma. Its cute! Like, who doesnt remember being a flustered mess over their crush as a teen?

Anyway!

So far the book is cute and fun. A bit anxious and edgy in some parts, but hey, its about a goth band and mysteries and magic. What I like most is trying to piece together clues that might tie together to solve the mystery. Its a lot like being in a scooby doo episode, just without a majority of the crew's insights.

Can't wait to see how it ends