Bookworm & Dog Mom

May books:

The Carrow Haunt by Darcy Coates - 5 ⭐️

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry - 1.5 ⭐️

All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Breenan - 4 ⭐️

Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa - 5 ⭐️ ***

Down to Ursa by Lissa Sharpe - 3.5 ⭐️

When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker - 5 ⭐️ ***

***re-reads

Notes:

Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa I have read more times than I can count. It’s in my Top 5 favorite books/series— which, funnily enough, so are When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker and Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan. I have read The Bargainer series countless times and I never tire of it. Their relationship is what I want to see in more romances. (Stories that rely solely on sex and no genuine relationship are textbook examples of poor writing. They give het pairing written by a man in a tv show, ngl.)

The Carrow Haunt by Darcy Coates was also amazing and an instant favorite. I was not a horror fan before my first Darcy book— and ,honestly, still don’t consider myself one, but she beautifully incorporates my favorite elements from other genres into this one. Found family, page-turner FILLED with plot twists, bit of romance, blending supernatural and human causes (or scientific), character development, and more. Unputdownable.

Shield of Sparrows was meh. I finished it. Parts of it were good. Most of it had me wanting to yell because the plot holes were so infuriating and obvious problems. I wanted to DNF on numerous occasions. Ultimately, it was really dumb in a lot of ways. Like, plot holes you could drive a truck through.

@sarahreesbrennan PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS A LABYRINTH REFERENCE. YOU AND I SHOULD BE FRIENDS. Lol

Not word for word, but exact same vibes

Text version: Laugh When It Sinks In

Author/Reader: Tenoko1

Pairing: Aziraphale/Crowley

Tags: Domestic Fluff, accidental roommates, Romantic Fluff, Self-Worth Issues, Moving In Together, Accidental Nesting, Aziraphale is a Bower Bird, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, Love Confessions, coming home, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: M4B

Length: 1hr30mins

Summary:

Crowley stopped them in their trek, slipping his arm from Aziraphale’s grasp to face him, hands on his shoulders. “Are you sure you’re alright? A-are you having, like, a mid-life crisis or something now that Heaven’s cut you loose? You’re worrying me. What’s next? Cherry red sports car?”

Aziraphale reached up to pat Crowley’s hand in reassurance before they began walking again. “If I’m to live here, don’t you think it’s time I actually settled like I live here?”

Fandom: Good Omens (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Nanny Ashtoreth and Warlock, Brother Francis and Warlock

Characters: Brother Francis (Good Omens), Warlock Dowling, Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Supernatural), Nanny Ashtoreth (Good Omens)

Additional Tags: Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Bedtime Stories, Fairy Tales, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Crowley really loves Aziraphale, Aziraphale finds out on accident, Nanny tells the BEST bedtime stories

Summary:

“Once upon a time,” Brother Francis began, a smile spreading over his features. He looked more enthused and delighted by the forthcoming story than his audience, a four-year-old boy draped over an ever-patient sheepdog. The dog was about as much his nanny as Nanny Ashtoreth, herding the boy around as though he were a flock of one.

    “You’re telling it wrong,” Warlock informed him.

    Aziraphale blinked, then jerked back in offense. He- Aziraphale, an angel of the Lord, who had been on Earth before the very invention of storytelling- was being told he was telling a story wrong?

    The smile he forced onto his face was tight and did little to disguise the vein throbbing in his temple. “Pardon, Master Warlock?”

Babe AO3 is a nonprofit. They do not exist under the ethics of capitalism. Fanfiction is legal because no money is ever exchanged around it. (All the money given to AO3 is used to maintain their servers and pay their lawyers to help keep fanfiction legal.)

It begins, as it will end, in a garden

(7k words)

–

Adam and Eve fled hours ago.

The rain only just stopped, sunlight reflecting off the droplets that clung to leaf and petal, making the entirety of the Garden glitter like a jewel. Like paradise.

The angel and demon walked through the Garden together. There were only two humans on the planet, and both Crawley and Aziraphale had done as told. Crawley had made trouble. Aziraphale had done what he could to protect them.

Now they were left… to wait.

Aziraphale watched Crawley inspect a flowering vine, thin fingers plucking the curling end of the plant and drawing it down, pulling it taut before releasing it, sending sparkling droplets into the air.

The demon opened his hand, and the droplets stilled and hung suspended in the air, shimmering and reflecting light, moving and twirling around each other with little more than a twitch of Crawley’s fingers.

“It is beautiful here, isn’t it?” Crawley mused, eyes on the water droplets he’d spun into a galaxy. The lines of his face were soft, eyes distant and smile at the corner of his lips. “Was the Garden your work, Angel of the Eastern Gate?”

There was something… deprecating in his tone, but Aziraphale wasn’t sure which of them Crawley was actually mocking.

“Aziraphale.” The demon turned his head just enough to slide him a look, eyes yellow and slit. Aziraphale shifted on his feet. “My name… is Aziraphale.”

Crawley inclined his head, coils of his red hair falling over his shoulder. “I did not mean to offend you, Aziraphale.”

Biting his bottom lip and wringing his hands, Aziraphale swept his gaze around. What was his purpose with the Garden empty? With his charges out there on their own? His orders had been to remain in Eden. What did that mean if those meant to occupy it fled?

“I-I d-did not have anything to do with, uh, the construction or design,” Aziraphale blurted for want of a distraction.

Conversation distracted him from his charges missing, but didn’t distract him from the fact he was… well, fraternizing.

With the enemy. For lack of anything else to do.

It didn’t distract from the way Aziraphale marvelled at the beauty of the demon. He’d been told that those who fell became twisted and ugly monstrosities to reflect their crimes against God, but… but Aziraphale thought he was beautiful.

“What was that?” Crawley questioned, head turning as he curled his fingers and the water droplets fell to the thick grass beneath their feet.

“Sorry?”

Crawly blinked and turned. “You said something about the garden being beautiful.” An uncomfortable heat flooded Aziraphale’s face, and he took in a shuddering breath and looked away, woefully uncomfortable with the anxiety twisting him into knots from the inside. Crawley’s features softened, hands raised to show his open palms. “Relax, angel. Take a breath. I’m sure everything will be fine, even with the humans on the loose. Everything works according to Her divine, ineffable plan, does it not?”

There was something wrong with the mortal form he’d been assigned, Aziraphale decided. It couldn’t get enough air for some reason, it made him light-headed, dots swimming on the edge of his vision.

Yes, Aziraphale thought,  hand pressed to his chest and the other blindly reaching for something to steady himself on, something was most certainly wrong with this body.

Crawley grabbed him, hand gripping around Aziraphale’s, arm curling around his back as Crawley manoeuvred him to the ground. “Easy, angel. Easy. Just breathe, Aziraphale. It’s alright. You did nothing wrong.”

Aziraphale gasped for air, tiny, aborted sounds as he threw Crawley a scathing look. “How can you know that? You’re a demon!”

Though he didn’t flinch at the accusation, Crawley’s demeanour shifted, making him feel far away despite the way Aziraphale clutched his hand in bone white fingers.

“Because you did more than I would have,” Crawley murmured. “I set them free. You tried to ensure their safety. You sought to protect God’s creation.” He gave Aziraphale’s shoulder a squeeze. “How could that be wrong?”

“They’re meant to be here,” Aziraphale stressed between wheezing gasps of air. He gestured to the paradise around them. “And now they’re out there. How is that right?”

Crawley lowered his gaze, so infuriatingly calm Aziraphale wanted to shake him.

When their eyes met, Crawley’s expression was closed off and careful. “Because a gilded cage, no matter how beautiful, is still a cage, angel.” He shook his head. “Even if it’s hard, even if it hurts… I still think freedom is better. What is obedience if there is no other choice? Is it obedience, or is it subjugation?”

Aziraphale leaned away from him, face all sharp lines and disdain. “Don’t you dare try to make me question the ineffable plan or orders we were tasked with– I was tasked with. Your job was to tempt the humans, serpent.”

Eyes narrowing, Crawley jerked his face away. “I wasn’t trying to tempt you,” he snapped. After a beat, he held out his hand, palm just above the earth. With an elegant gesture, a stem wove its way out of the ground, twisting and unfurling its leaves and petals. Crawley plucked the white blossom free and offered it to Aziraphale, their eyes locking. “Freedom is better than being a prisoner. If they weren’t meant to choose freedom, why would God create an entire world? An entire galaxy? The universe?” Breathing easier, but still looking very afraid, Aziraphale took the sweet-smelling flower, drawing it to his chest as Crawley’s words washed over him. “You gave them the means to survive so that they see those things for themselves. That wasn’t wrong, angel.”

Chapters: 1/1 Words: 11932 Fandom: Good Omens (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens) Characters: Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale (Good Omens) Additional Tags: Domestic Fluff, accidental roommates, Romantic Fluff, Self-Worth Issues, Moving In Together, making up your mind you deserve what makes you happy, Podfic Welcome, Accidental Nesting, Aziraphale is a Bower Bird (Good Omens), IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, Love Confessions, coming home Summary:

Crowley stopped them in their trek, slipping his arm from Aziraphale’s grasp to face him, hands on his shoulders. “Are you sure you’re alright? A-are you having, like, a mid-life crisis or something now that Heaven’s cut you loose? You’re worrying me. What’s next? Cherry red sports car?”

Aziraphale reached up to pat Crowley’s hand in reassurance before they began walking again. “If I’m to live here, don’t you think it’s time I actually settled like I live here?”

This fic was also published as a podfic here.

Why I love this fic

I’ve already been a fan of @tenoko1‘s work back in the Supernatural fandom. And when I fell in love with Good Omens, I was thrilled to discover that one of my favorite writers was right there with me, writing beautiful fics about my new favorite characters.

This one takes place post-Apocalypse and Aziraphale decides that he’d like some change in his life. More specifically: he wants to renovate his flat. So he asks Crowley for help. And in the meantime he’ll just have to move in with his friend now, doesn’t he?

All Hail Chaos; Time of Iron, Book 2 by Sarah Rees Brennan is out today!!!

The first book, Long Live Evil, was one of my Favorite Books of 2024 and became an instant Top 5 All-time Favorite book.

If you remember the musical-comedy show Galavant, this book is a lot like it-- including a musical number-- except darker, because these characters are the villains instead of the heroes.

I adored this book. I cannot stress that enough.

The premise is simple enough: our main character, Rae, is dying on cancer and is given the opportunity to be isekai'd into her favorite fantasy book series to retrieve a mystical flower that can save her. (Note: the author is a cancer survivor herself.)

Thing is: Rae's sister read her the book during chemo treatments and hospital visits, so her memory of some details are fuzzy or confused, and while she has an advantage, she'll have to use all of her wits and charm to survive the blood-thirsty story where nearly all her favorite characters are fated to die-- including the one she wakes up in the body of.

At first, things are easier for Rae because none of these people are real. They're just characters in a book, so manipulating, scheming, whatever-- it doesn't matter. They're not real and she needs to survive.

But, with time, and as events change in the book, fictional characters or not, Rae realizes what they feel is very real, and her actions have very real consequences for herself and the friends she's made. And in order to save them, she risks being able to get the mystic flower that is her only way back to her body in the real world.

This book is SO good! I cannot wait to dive into the second book after the cliffhanger we were left to cling to. I love how the author uses different writing styles to differentiate between when someone is reading the novel, when they are in the real world, and when Rae winds up in the novel herself. I love how we know there is a musical and a massive fanbase and online community for these books, and how it details people relying on books to get them through whatever real-life struggles they are going through, with books becoming their safe space. With people reading the same books over and over again like a security blanket they cling to in hard times.