Moodboards for my YA Fantasy series: The Chronicles of Grimmless

 

Travel to a land where mad citizens roam the streets, mermaids lore men into the deep lagoon, queens’ happily ever afters do not end happily, and where you might just cross vengeful gods. 

Welcome dear mortal to Grimmless. Keep ahold of your compass. 🧭

Happy Towel Day and Glorious 25th

 Happy Towel Day!

Happy Glorious 25th

“Truth! Freedom! Justice! And a hard-boiled egg!”- Night Watch by Terry Pratchett 

5…4…3…2…1 Book Tag!

It has been quite a while since I’ve done a tag and I don’t know why because I love doing them. My goal is to get back into doing tags more often. Hopefully, a couple of times a month. I found this on Zezee with Books’s blog and decided to do it. There are five different prompts in this tag. I changed the question for number 2 to my own idea. 

For this prompt, I decided to pick my five favorite books of 2024. I have linked my reviews for each of these books in the titles. 

1. Storm of Olympus by Claire M. Andrews- The Daughter of Sparta series started back in 2021 and have been eagerly awaiting for this book to come out. This is a take on the events of The Odyssey though it heavily deviates from that story. Daphne is such a great character. I have loved watching her evolve as a character in this trilogy. 
2. Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa- A wonderful queer reimagining of Pride and Prejudice. 
3. The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang- An absolutely wonderful queer adult fiction fantasy that I adored. 
4. The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer- This is being comped as an adult version of Narnia. As soon as I heard that, I knew I had to pick it up right away. I was lucky enough to get a review copy for it earlier this year and read it in February. I highly recommend picking this up when it is published in July. 
5. Death’s Country by R. M. Romero- Up until I read this book, my favorite of the year was The Emperor and the Endless Palace. I adored this story even more than I thought I would. It is a queer modern take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. I will have a review up on this blog at the end of the month and have also linked to my review on Goodreads. 

This was such a very hard prompt. 

1. Neil Gaiman- When I think of favorite authors, Neil is one of the first people who comes to mind. He is a one of a kind writer, who has so many different types of works. I own most of his works and I plan on owning the rest someday. 
2. Madeline Miller- Madeline has only written two books but I know I will buy and read anything she ever writes. Hopefully, she'll come out with something soon. 
3. Chris Colfer- I have loved Chris ever since the first episode of Glee back in 2009. When he first announced he was going to be writing a fairy tale retelling series, I was elated. The Land of Stories is a series I wish was around when I was a kid, but I’m glad the children of today have his writing. I have preordered every one of Chris’s books ever since The Wishing Spell. He's the only author I can say that I preordered all of their books. 
4. Natalie Haynes- Natalie’s takes on mythology are some of my absolute favorites. I plan on reading everything she ever writes. 

1. Fantasy- Definitely, my top favorite genre. Most of what I read during the year are fantasy books, all age ranges. I love fantastical worlds. 
2. Contemporary Romance- Other than fantasy, my other favorite thing to read is contemporary romance. I love a great love story. 
3. Poetry- Poetry is one of my favorite genres to read and write. I have been writing poetry ever since 8th grade (2007-2008) and love every minute of it.

1. Ingary from Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones- I love how we are introduced to Ingary from the very first page of the novel. It is a fantasy world I would love to visit. 
2. Lancre from The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett- I would love to visit the Discworld, especially Lancre. 

1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson- I have owned this book for a very long time and I have never read it. Brandon's books are some of the ones that most intrigue me, especially The Stormlight Archive. My goal is to pick it up sometime in the beginning of June. It’ll be my first Brandon Sanderson book. I’m very excited to get into his books, finally. 

Ten Book Recommendations- If You Like This…Read This

I wanted to make a post of book recommendations using the popular: If You Like this… Read This prompt. My goal was to pick well known works and to recommend less known books or series. This list was a lot of fun to create. Also, I cheated a bit because there are more than ten books recommended. Truthfully, I’m surprised I haven’t cheated before now on one of these lists. Hope you find something to pick up. 

1. Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones ➡️ The Vermillion Emporium by Jamie Paxton

~ What interested me in this book first were the comp titles being a mixture between Radium Girls and Howl’s Moving Castle. I will forever be a sucker for a book that is described as having a fantastical world similar to Howl’s Moving Castle. The idea of a shop that moves from place to place was an excellent idea. This does make me think of Howl’s world and the magic system with the starlight. Though, it is not as lighthearted and is a darker story. 

2. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland retellings ➡️ Adult: The Insanity Series by Cameron Jace and MG: The Lost Wonderland Diaries and Secrets of the Looking Glass by J. Scott Savage

~ The Insanity Series: I am a big fan of retellings as you will see from this list and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland retellings are some of my absolute favorites. One of the best I have found is Cameron Jace’s series. These books are part mystery and horror. They are very dark reads that are quite thrilling. I love what Cameron did with the Wonderland characters and world. 

~ The Lost Wonderland Diaries and Secrets of the Looking Glass: This has become a new favorite for me in the last couple of years. Savage does an incredible job adding to the world of Wonderland and creating a voice that feels reminiscent of Carroll’s but also so unique. I love the wordplay, puzzles, and riddles throughout both books. They are incredible and I hope he will continue on in this world in some way. 

3. “All Too Well (10 Min version)” by Taylor Swift ➡️ Honesty by Seth King

~ A couple of years ago, I was working on an Bookstagram project where I found lyrics from a song which fit perfectly with plot points in books. My first one was for “All Too Well” and Honesty. This is probably the best example of lyrics fitting so well with a book. Honesty fits the vibes that Taylor is giving with her relationship in this song. 

“Underneath it all, I was the same as anyone else: I was dreaming for the love of someone who wouldn’t give it to me.” from Honesty by Seth King

~ Seth King has a stunning writing style, which had me connecting with Cole from the beginning of the book. This is a beautiful story that encapsulates first love and heartbreak. I highly recommend this book.

4. Heartless by Marissa Meyer ➡️ Malice by Heather Walter 

~ I read Heartless years ago and fell in love with Cath’s story. To this day, I still vividly remember this book. I’m always looking for other villain origin stories that will make me think of this one. Heartless is about the Queen of Hearts from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and what caused her to become the queen we know from the original. Malice is an adult queer origin story for the enchantress from “Sleeping Beauty.” I love Heather Walter’s writing style and this story is one I highly recommend. Its sequel is also very good. I love a story with a morally grey character so much! 

 

~I will be picking up Heather’s new book The Crimson Crown which is an adult queer mix of the Evil Queen from “Snow White” and is loosely inspired by Anne Boleyn’s rise. She has been talking about this book for years and I cannot wait to read it soon! I’ve been lucky enough to get every one of Heather’s books as an ARC copy. 

5. New takes on Fairy Tale retellings ➡️ Lava Red, Feather Blue by Molly Ringle 

~ Lava Red, Feather Blue starts as a “Sleeping Beauty” retelling and expands into it’s own story. One of the main characters, Prince Larkin is forced into being put into a magical sleep as one side of a truce between the humans and fae on the island of Eidolonia. He is awoken over 200– years later by Merrick by accident and their adventure continues from there. I love how Molly blended fairytales, fae stories, slow-burn romances, and familial bonds in this story. This is an adult fantasy story, I highly recommend. I will be picking up the companion novel in May. 

6. Found Family stories ➡️ Castle Waiting Volume 1 & 2 by Linda Medley 

~ I’m a big fan of found family stories and I’m always looking for new ones to read. A great example that I read years ago is the Castle Waiting graphic novel series. It focuses on an isolated castle and the zany inhabitants. I love how cozy it feels and just following along with these characters in their everyday lives in a fairy tale world. It’s one I will be rereading very soon. 

 

7. Hamlet and Choose-Your-Own-Adventure stories ➡️ To Be or Not To Be by Ryan North

~ To Be or Not To Be is a brilliant book that I adore. I have read through the book three times over the years and I am sure I have not found all of the storylines. Growing up, I was a big fan of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books and was excited when I saw there was a Shakespeare version. One of the paths through the book is the one that “Shakespeare chose” as Ryan says in the book. This is hilarious and such a journey. 

~ I hope one day Ryan will write a version of this for Macbeth. I would buy it in a heartbeat. 

8. Hate to love Fantasy Romance ➡️ To Poison a King by S.G. Prince

~ My favorite book of last year was To Poison a King by S.G. Prince. I was asked by the author on Instagram to read her book and I’m so glad I decided to do so. From the beginning of this book, her atmospheric writing had me falling in love with the story. Character-driven stories have become many of my favorites over the years. I’ll always be a fan of a rich fantasy world and characters you thoroughly know. Selene’s (the main character) arc is one of the best parts of this novel. 

~Selene and Elias’s relationship was wonderful. Hate-to-love romances are some of my favorite stories. Elias has rough exterior when he is first introduced, but throughout the book, you realize that he is not that way at all. He was a refreshing take on a royal character who was just as fleshed out as Selene. I enjoyed watching Selene and Elias’s romance play out but also enjoyed their friendship. They were sweet together.

9. Fans of Shel Silverstein’s Poems ➡️ Tales of Whimsy, Verses of Woe by Tim DeRoche

~ I love poetry so darn much and was very interested in picking this up when I heard the premise. It’s a book of children’s poems with illustrations, that is very reminiscent of those of Shel Silverstein. Great for children and for anyone looking for a good time when reading poetry. Made me nostalgic. 

10. Classic lover who wants a queer version of their favorite book ➡️ Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore and Most Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa 

~ I have only read two of the Remixed Classics series but I adore each of them so much. Two of my favorite books ever are The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice, so I went into these two beauties hoping they would be favorites. I’m pleased to say they were both incredible takes on their classic counterparts. Both deal with trans boys and romances that are perfect. There are reviews for both on this blog and I highly recommend picking them up. They are perfection! 

~Also, I want to mention how beautiful these covers are. Absolutely stunning in every way. 

Monthly Reviews- April 2024

  🌸 April Reviews 🌷

April 1st-30th

Not my month for reading books, but I have a good feeling about May. 

Book 33: Castle Swimmer: Volume 1

By Wendy Martin

Read April 17th

Pages: 272

Release Year: 2024

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Castle Swimmer is such a beautiful graphic novel with an interesting storyline. I remember finding it on Webtoons a couple of years ago and read what was out at that time, which was not even this entire volume. I never continued on with it for some reason though, but I will be now. 

The illustration style stands out and drew me in instantly. I like how the story is playing with the idea of prophecies and chosen one stories. It definitely is making me wonder where the story is going to go from here with Kappa and Siren. I have to continue it on Webtoons so I can see what happens next. 

I highly recommend this wonderful start to this series. 

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.*

Book 34: Love Her Wild

By Atticus Poetry

Read April 21st

Pages: 225

Release Year: 2017

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I’ve decided to not pick up any more of Atticus’s poetry after this volume. It’s what is called “Instagram” poetry, with most of the pieces being one line or a stanza long. Not my type of poetry at all if I’m going to be honest. I’m not going to say that poetry like this cannot work because I am a fan of what are called six-word memoirs. It is incredible what some people can do with the smallest amount of words, but I would rather read longer poems. 

I did enjoy the last volume I read of his but not this one. There are a couple of longer poems throughout and I did like the through line with the older man and the boy. These were just not for me.

Book 35: To Be or Not To Be: A Choosable-Path Adventure

By Ryan North

Read April 23rd

Pages: 768

Release Year: 2013

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April 23rd, 2024 reread: 

I decided to reread this beauty for Shakespeare’s birthday. It will always be one of my favorite reads. I reread the Shakespeare choices (I love how the narrator makes fun of your choices the entire time) and some others. Such a great time. One day I hope Ryan will make a Macbeth version of this book. That’s the dream. 

November 7th-8th, 2017 reread: 

I have been a major fan of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books since I was a child. It might have been because I have always had a natural affinity for telling my own stories, whether that be through writing or just in creating stories with my toys as a child. This is a version based off of Shakespeare's Hamlet and I cannot get enough of creating new paths in it. When I read it this time, I created around ten different paths throughout the book. This is a really great idea for a book and I love how Ryan North played with the original play that I know so well. This is a re-read of certain parts but also a first time read of others. It's not the type of book you read straight through. I know that I will continue to have a great time with this book and cannot wait to see even more of the paths and illustrations that go along with the ends.

Book 36: The Science of the Discworld

By Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, and Jack Cohen

Read April 28th-29th

Pages: 432

Release Year: 1999

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I highly enjoyed the Discworld novella that played out throughout this book. It was one of my favorites we have gotten of the wizards besides what they do in Hogfather. This reminded me a bit of some of the later books in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy where Arthur experiences Earth from the past. I enjoyed looking at the beginnings of the “Roundworld” from the perspective of the wizards and how they compared it to their own world. Terry has so many clever observations as he always does in his books. I do look forward to reading more about their experiments with the Roundworld. 

The scientific parts of the book were okay. I did not like how it cut into the Discworld story, often interrupting in the middle of a scene. Terry never had chapter breaks  and many times this became a hindrance in this book because it would cut off in the middle of what was going on. I loved the parts about the dinosaurs and some of the others. 

I will be picking up further books in this series because I want to see more of the wizards interacting with the “Roundworld.”