June’s box came with 2 books!
It’s always so exciting when the box has two books and these both look amazing!
There were so many awesome things in this box.
I’m always a fan when there are practical things in the box.
The Alice in Wonderland inspired tea strainer is so cute in the teapot shape. Plus it’s perfect for drinking the tea we got in an earlier box. I love the little ‘Drink Me’ tag on the end of it.
I am obsessed when the box includes pins and this one is so pretty. Inspired by The Shadows Between Us, it has the quote “Love is an excellent Motivator to kill” on it.
As a huge fan of bees, this Starless Sea inspired patch was just amazing. I’m not familiar with the book (Unpopular Opinion: I’m not a huge fan of Erin Morgenstern) but I love how this patch looks. Not sure what I’ll put it on yet.
This is the first time since subscribing that I’ve gotten ankle socks instead and they’re great! I think ankle socks are more practical but now that Fall and winter is coming… full socks might be the way to go.
The one thing that I’m not a huge fan of is the Elemental Coasters inspired by Avatar and designed by @noverantale. Mainly because I don’t use coasters I just have a lot of them. But they’re great quality and nice designs. Maybe one day I’ll use the copious amount of coasters I own.
Who doesn’t love prints!? I need somewhere to display them but the Blood Heir art print by @arz28 is stunning!
Do you think that these items hit the ‘A Different Kind of Magic’ theme well enough?
June’s ‘A Different Kind of Magic’ themed main book is Forest of Souls by Lori M Lee.
Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo.
And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life.
Unveiled as the first soulguide in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood—an ancient forest possessed by souls—to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a soulguide can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.
Danger lurks within the roots of Forest of Souls, an epic, unrelenting tale of destiny and sisterhood, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Susan Dennard.
From inside cover sleeve
I wanted to love this book more.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I feel like I was expecting more from this book than what I got.
It checked all the boxes but was missing that something… I’m not even sure what it is that I was looking for.
Kickass lead female? Check.
Girl power best friend? Check.
Snarky male friend? Check.
Weird magic stuff? Check.
But overall, it just missed me.
Forest of Souls did keep me on my toes in terms of plot (although it might have been a bit predictable for some?) but I enjoyed the way that it ended enough that I’ll definitely be reading the next instalment!
Sirscha was a likeable enough character; her loyalty to her friend and her goal in life is admirable, although a bit boring. Maybe that’s what missed for me? Saengo is nice and is the typical against all odds friendship, even though the odds have been stacked against them. Although, you don’t really get to see this friendship at all. I was more excited about the growing friendship between Sirscha and Phaut throughout the whole book.
I’m hoping to see more of Theyen in the next book even though their relationship is left up in the air by the end of the book. I feel like most of the book happened in the last hundred pages of the book. I feel like we’ll be able to get more fleshed out characters and more character growth in the 2nd book.
Another character who I was most intrigued by was Prince Meilek. I will say that I do ship them together and wouldn’t mind seeing this being explored more.
I’ve never read anything by Lori M. Lee before this so I can’t say if this is typical of her writing style, but I’m not averse to reading other works by her.
I’m waiting on hooks because of the cliffy of an ending but I don’t know if it’s something that I’m gushing over and recommending to everyone as a must-read.
View all my reviews
The second book is The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna.
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.
But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.
Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.
From Goodreads
Do not sleep on this book.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book I could not put down.
I stayed up way too late reading it (3 am – eek!) and I do not regret one single bit. Looking on here I see that the author plans to make it a trilogy, but I feel like it could be read as a stand-alone.
I think I might prefer it as a stand-alone? So many YA books these days always seem to be drawn out into duos/trios.
Anyways. The concept of the book is pretty cringe-inducing (which I suspect is the goal of the author) with her extremely patriarchal mindset for the book in the beginning and how Deka is raised. I realize that this mindset isn’t too far-fetched from what we used to be like, but it’s still super hard to read about. Her cast of characters is so diverse and seamlessly diverse, it’s refreshing. The characters are diverse but that’s not what brings them together. They’re all demons who bleed gold and can come back to life.
I loved Deka’s character growth and at first, I was like this isn’t realistic but at the same time she’s supernatural so, yes it definitely would work. I was kept on my toes with the mystery surrounding White Hands, the fact that the book was fairly dark in terms of torture and gore and death. Her banding together with her blood sisters and creating such a deep friendship with her group (even when they started off so rocky) was just so fulfilling.
This book is easily one that I would DEFINITELY recommend. The mythology behind it and the rich world-building has me definitely impatient for the next books. Especially since this book hasn’t technically been released yet!
This one I definitely will recommend to pick up when it is released. Don’t even think about it just do it. Plus the cover is stunning and the Fairyloot edition is stunning with the sprayed edges.
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I’m glad that this month was a double-book month.
I feel like for the “A Different Kind of Magic” theme, The Gilded Ones probably hit that point better than Forest of Souls. To me, The Gilded Ones was the better book but they both were good reads. I’m not complaining about either one gracing and earning a place on my bookshelf!
Will you be adding either of these to your To-Read list, or will you decide to pass? Let me know!
J x
