First off, I could not put this book down! This could very easily have become a very problematic romance, but K. M. Szpara continually brings you down to earth and makes you think and problematise what is happening. NOTE – This is not a romance! It’s a dystopian set in a future America where you are either super rich (trillionaire is the new millionaire) or have massive debts because you inherit the debt of your family. To solve the situation there is a system in place where you can sell yourself as a docile (basically a slave) to the highest bidder. To make the experience “easier” there is a drug that you can either accept or refuse named Dociline.

 In the story we follow Elisha, who burdened by the debt of his family decides to sell himself as a docile. Because of Docilines effect on his mother he decides to never accept the drug, a decision that will reflect badly on the person who buys his contract Alexander Bishop III – whose family is the creators of the drug. To save face Alex decides to do everything to make Elisha into the perfect Docile – even without the drug.

Like I said, I could not put this book down, it was so well written and the pages just flew by. I loved all of the character arcs and the changes the characters went through – both good and bad. The world this was set in felt very real and frighteningly possible. The exploration of the meaning of consent and of love was so intriguing and important!

Gripping, thought provoking and absolutely stunning! I really loved this book!

I don’t usually do content warnings – but a heads up as this portrays explicit m/m sexscenes – both consensual and nonconsensual. Also a few bdsm elements and corporal punishments.

Swedish book – Swedish review!

Ett stor tack till Seraf förlag och Caroline Hurtig för att jag fick den nya utgåvan att läsa och recensera!

I en dimension bredvid människorna styr de fem ödesgudinnorna över människornas öden. När ödesgudinnan Aria gör allt för att hjälpa en av sina själar, ändras hennes eget liv bortom hennes vildaste fantasier och hon får själv uppleva både kärlek och krig. (swipa för en längre beskrivning)

Jag hade lite svårt i början av boken att komma in i berättelsen och bli riktigt “fast”. Jag kände att jag hade lite svårt att knyta an till karaktärerna då de alla kändes så “goda” och då en av huvudkaraktärerna var en Ödesgudinna var hon lite “omänsklig” i sin osjälviskhet. Men ju djupare jag kom in i berättelsen desto mer fastnade jag för karaktärerna och de blev mer komplexa och lättare att känna för. Det var även mer karaktärer som presenterades som inte var goda, men inte helt till fullo onda heller. Även den centrala kärleksrelationen utvecklades från “kärlek vid första ögonkastet” till en djupare och mer komplex kärlek. Jag gillade att vi fick lära känna många olika karaktärer och hur världen byggdes upp genom händelseförloppet och att vi som läsare fick mer och mer inblick i hur världen fungerade.

Jag är nyfiken på vad/vilka nästa bok i serien handlar om och vill gärna utforska denna värld och dessa karaktärer ytterligare.

Swedish book – Swedish review!

Jag älskar berättelser som leker med format och olika typer av media, och Monster i terapi är just en sådan berättelse. Vi får läsa transkriberingar av terapisessioner, dagboksanteckningar, mail osv. som tillsammans skapar ett sorts “found footage” narrativ där vi inte vet som har hänt med huvudpersonen, men vi får läsa om händelser som lett upp till hennes försvinnande. Vi får följa en psykolog som träffar ett antal olika kända “monster” från skräcklitteraturen: Frankensteins monster, Dr Jekyll, Carmilla och Dorian Gray, och hur dessa brottas med olika dilemman och möjliga diagnoser.

Man behöver inte ha läst någon av berättelserna boken refererar till, jag tycker författarna gör ett bra jobb med att förklara dessa för den oinvigde. Själv har jag enbart läst Frankenstein även om jag har förkunskaper även om Dr Jekyll och Dorian Gray, men Carmilla var för mig helt okänd. Jag älskade de olika inblickarna man som läsare fick kring olika tillstånd/diagnoser, och hur hur karaktärerna fick ställas till svars för sina handlingar. Det är svårt att välja ett favoritavsnitt, men jag tyckte särskilt om avsnittet om Dr. Jekyll som även speglade de olika uppfattningarna om könsroller och sexualitet som de olika karaktärerna representerar på ett roligt och intressant sätt.

Om du tycker att psykologi är intressant och är det minsta intresserad av klassiska monster (eller tvärtom för den delen), så MÅSTE du läsa Monster i terapi!

 

 

Swedish book – Swedish review!

Jag har varit så taggad på att läsa Anna Jakobsson Lunds böcker så länge och varit så säker på att jag skulle älska dem att jag införskaffat tre av hennes böcker innan jag ens läst en. Anledningen att det har tagit sån tid för mig att plocka upp min första är dels att jag haft svårt att plocka upp svensk fantasy överhuvudtaget (skämskudde på det!), och dels just för att jag har haft så höga förväntningar och varit rädd för att bli besviken.

Jag vet inte riktigt vad som fick mig att plocka upp just Blynätter först, men så blev det. Den beskrivs som sågverksfantasy, vilket känns som något helt nytt och unikt och denna värld skiljde sig verkligen från sådana jag är van vid att läsa!

Vi får följa ett antal olika karaktärer, och de är alla helt underbart komplexa och moraliskt grå. Magiska motorcykelrace blandas med kortspelande i skumma barer i en härligt smutsig värld där en revolution håller på att blossa upp. Magisystemet består av reliker med magiska egenskaper som enbart ett fåtal kan tämja och folkdomare med kraften att kunna urskilja lögner. Detta är en spännande värld, där handlingen sakta men säkert träder fram och som läsare är det bara att hänga med i de olika utvecklingarna för man vet inte alls vad som väntar! Anna Jakobsson Lund är otroligt skicklig på att väva samman de olika karaktärernas öden och små detaljer blir till sist till en helhet.

Ser fram emot nästa del i serien och att få grotta ned mig i denna värld ännu mer! Rekommenderas till alla som vill läsa normbrytande fantasy med intressanta karaktärer och ett fantastiskt världsbygge!

So this book was sold to me as lesbian necromancers in space, a tagline you’ve probably also heard.

And while that is true, the main character of this isn’t a necromancer. She is instead the warrior tasked with protecting a necromancer in a kind of competition.

This took me a while to read because I kind of expected something lighthearted and fun (well maybe lighthearted is the wrong word..) But this is a very intricate world and it took some concentration to read and appreciate this. I do wish the magic system and world would have been explained more plainly in the beginning of the book, but even though it took me a while to get my bearings and to keep all of the characters apart- this was kinda awesome! There were some parts that dragged a bit for me, but there were also a lot of things that stunned me and struck me speachless. I’m not sure how to rate this, but if you’re intrigued by this you should definitely give it a try!

I’ve always been fascinated by stories based on british mythology, and I’m particularly fond of the King Arthur myth, even though I have never actually read the original.

I love retellings focusing on the women of classic stories, so I was very excited about this but apprehensive as I was a bit disappointed by The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by the same author.

But I absolutely loved this! I love how most of the elements of the original story was there, but completely turned on its head. Magic and Merlin banished from Camelot, the marriage between Arthur and Guinevere a sham. I loved the mysteries of the characters and I loved the magic system that was so well explained.

This was everything I wanted, but not what I was expecting. This was a five star read for me.

Thank you to Aria and  Netgalley for this ARC!

One summer in Nashville is the story about Honor Blackwood and Jared Marshall, both country singers. Honor used to be the next big thing, until she was attacked on stage and was scarred for life. Jared is the reigning “bad boy” of country and about to go on his first big tour, and he wants Honor to join him…

This one started out so good, I really loved the setting, the characters were interesting and I really loved the chemistry between the two main leads. I love stories about musicians working together, writing music together and there were some scenes that  gave me butterflies. Really, throughout the book I really loved all of the scenes involving music – they were so well done!

I did however feel like the relationship got serious a bit too quickly, which left a big chunk of the book without much of a plot. There were some drama, but I would have preferred more of a slowburn of the romance, and for the drama to have been something different. This might just be my preferences, but I’m not the biggest fan of “something dark in a characters past that ruins the relationship” (can that be considered a trope?)

There was another thing that I feel like I have to mention because it bothered me a bit, and that is the overly aggressive hero. You know, the kind of a hero who thinks it’s ok to assault someone, because that person does something that isn’t ok. If this had been adressed in the book as not ok, then I would feel differently, but the heroine kinda just thought – “he is who he is, and I’m not going to try to change him”.

If you enjoy romance about musicians (and have slightly different tastes than me), you might really enjoy this! For me it was 3 stars!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! Sorry it took me so long before I got around to reading it. 

In The Honeymooner we follow Libby, her mother was a hippie who couldn’t stay in one place for long, so she has spent most of her life trying to be the opposite of her mother. On the day of her wedding to the reliable Richard, he leaves her at the altar. Since the honeymoon was supposed to be a worktrip as much as a vacation, she goes to Paradise Bay alone. There she meets Harrison, the carefree owner of the resort her company wishes to buy – but maybe he can convince her that she should let loose for a change instead.

 

This was a fun and cute romance, which unfortunately was a bit meh for me. I just never really connected with the characters, and the story didn’t really bring anything new. But if you enjoy vacation romance books, this could be the book for you. It has all of the beautiful settings, some funny moments and a hot love interest.

I was so excited to be accepted for an ARC of this, so a huge thank you to P. Dangelico!

 

Sydney Evans is the general counsel for a massive corporation and have her boss to thank for everything. One day she gets offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, all she has to do is marry the boss’s party-animal son.

What she doesn’t know is that Scott Blackstone has turned his life around, and now runs a successful cattle ranch in Wyoming. He in turn gets blackmailed by his father to marry Sydney, or he might lose everything.

 

I absolutely loved the premise of this book, and in some ways it reminded me of some of my absolute favorite romance novels. It had some of my favourite tropes; the fake/arranged marriage, hate-to-love, but also the characters trying to get each other to back out of the marriage with some white lies and horrible decorating. I also loved that the characters where a bit older (mid to late 30’s) which gave them a sense of security in themselves. The characters definitely had some depth, and both of them had sadness and hard times in their past. Sydney was one of those incredibly strong women I love that doesn’t let anything stop them, but at the same time I loved how she could be vulnerable. Scott was the perfect reformed playboy, but of course he had some issues he had to work out trough this book. With the early antagonism and some of the side characters there was also some funny bits and of course there were some sexy bits, but not overly much (I definitely liked Scotts dirty mouth though).

 

I read this in a day, I just couldn’t stop! This was the perfect mix of sweet, sexy, funny and heartbreaking.

 

The only thing I didn’t love was that the ending felt a bit rushed, some things just happened so quickly that I feel like I didn’t get the time to get emotionally invested in them. Still going to give it 5 stars though, I absolutely loved this!

 

Thank you to #netgalley and the author for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I did my first ever buddy read with Kaity (@kaitfeinated on instagram) for this book, which was a fun experience that I would love to repeat. To be honest I’ve been a bit hesitant in the past to read this book, it’s sort of magical realism which is a genre I haven’t really read much of before. But mostly because I haven’t really felt drawn to it for some reason. But it’s a very beloved series, and lately I feel like I’ve seen it everywhere and I typically take that as a sign to read it.

I have to admit I’m not completely sold on this series based on the first book, there where some things I liked, but also some things that annoyed me. Let’s start with a thing that bugged me – why are there so many freaking characters??? I just couldn’t keep track of most of them and it just made me feel confused. Most of them didn’t even have anything to do! I mean, Blue didn’t really need 3 (4?) aunts, cousins? Look at me! – I’m still confused! Haha. Anyway, I really loved the mystery that was presented and the ensuing treasure hunt. I also liked the dynamic of the “raven boys” friendgroup (but did we really need the brewing love triangle?). My favourite of the group was probably Gansey, I just found him to be the most amusing I guess… I also loved the magic, even though it felt a bit unexplained and structureless. I’m a bit thorn as how to feel about Steifvaters writing style, on the one hand I like it, and on the other it just conjures up really odd images in my mind and I think I might be taking some of her descriptions to literal.

For example: “She stood at the base of the stairs, small and pale and made largely of hair.” – and I’m picturing cousin It from the Addams family….

“Persephone tended to get caught in odd drafts and blow around.” – Me thinking: *Ghost*.

Like I said, not sure how I feel about it. I also feel that there wasn’t really all that much that happened in this story, I was expecting a big actionpacked ending and I’m not really sure how I feel about what we actually got.

In the end this left me a bit meh, but I’m still curious about what will happen in the next couple of books and how the characters will evolve and change. 3,5 stars!