At the start of the year I said I was going to take on less ARCs. Well, apparently I lied. This also isn’t completely true as I had plans to stick to this before HarperCollins sent me an email with a ton of new books to download. Which I am very grateful for! Surprisingly, I’m very on top of my ARCs though.
In my March to be read post I talked about how I was going to be reading an ARC of One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake, which I did attempt, but the formatting of it was awful. It literally had letters missing from words and the paragraphs were all over the place. It’s a shame because I was actually quite excited for it, but never mind.
The Cherished by Patricia Ward – 18th April 2023
This book probably has one of my favourite covers of 2023 so far and I was super excited to read it (thanks to Grace at HarperCollins for sending me the ARC). Well, until I saw it has a pretty bad rating on Goodreads. I’m still going to try it for myself.
Synopsis: Jo never expected to be placed in her absent grandmother’s will—let alone be left her house, her land, and a letter with mysterious demands.
Upon arriving at the inherited property, things are even more strange.
The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd, just slightly…off. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house. And the things that her father used to talk about, his delusions… Why is Jo starting to believe they might be real?
But what Jo fears most is the letter from her grandmother. Because if it’s true, then Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay.
Julieta and the Romeos by Maria E. Andreu
I’ve been enjoying contemporaries a lot more than fantasy lately, which is very shocking. I’m usually a fantasy girl through and through, but romance is taking over my mind. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older?
This book sounds completely meta and I love the idea of it. Also the cover is very cute.
Synopsis: Julieta isn’t looking for her Romeo–but she is writing about love. When her summer writing teacher encourages the class to publish their work online, the last thing she’s expecting is to get a notification that her rom-com has a mysterious new contributor, Happily Ever Drafter. Julieta knows that happily ever afters aren’t real. (Case in point: her parents’ imploding marriage.) But then again, could this be her very own meet-cute?
As things start to heat up in her fiction, Julieta can’t help but notice three boys in her real life: her best friend’s brother (aka her nemesis), the boy next door (well, to her abuela), and her oldest friend (who is suddenly looking . . . hot?). Could one of them be her mysterious collaborator? But even if Julieta finds her Romeo, she’ll have to remember that life is full of plot twists. . . .
Kill Your Darlings by L.E. Harper – 24th May 2023
I requested this book on a bit of a whim, I’ve never heard of the author before, but it does sound really interesting. Plus the cover is stunning. I have no idea what genre it falls into as I received an email from the author detailing that the book explores a lot of dark themes, so if you are interested in checking this out yourself when it’s published, do be aware of this!
Synopsis: Fantasy author Kyla knows dreams don’t come true. Isolated and grappling with debilitating depression, she copes by writing about the realm of Solera. Fearless heroes, feisty shapeshifters, and mighty dragons come alive on her pages. She adores her characters, but she doesn’t believe in happy endings. And if she can’t have one, why should they?
Kyla’s on the verge of giving up on everything when she wakes one morning, magically trapped in her fictional world. Now she’s with her most cherished characters: the friends she’s always yearned for, the family she’s never known. There’s even someone who might be Prince Charming (if Kyla could get her act together and manage some honest communication). She’d surrender to the halcyon fantasy, except she knows a nightmarish ending awaits. Solera is at war, and its defenders are losing against the insidious villain spawned in the depths of Kyla’s mind. He feeds on the energy of dreams, seeks the destruction of all who oppose him—and Kyla’s become his number one target.
Kyla must trade her pen for a sword and fight to change her story’s ending, but this isn’t a fantasy anymore. No happily-ever-after is guaranteed. And mental illness has robbed her of everything she needs to succeed: love, fighting spirit, hope. If Kyla can’t overcome the darkness inside her, she’ll die with her darlings.
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