Skimming Spines

Author: nacarpauline

book reviews

Hiding in Bed While Publishing this Bc ‘From Blood & Ash’ Is Really Not the Amazing Fantasy Romance it’s Hyped Up to Be

July 17, 2021July 18, 20218 Min Reading

If you haven’t read “From Blood and Ash” and you want to go in unbiased, skip this review for now because this might taint that.

skimmingspines

Dance of Thieves / Vow of Thieves ⚔ If you’ve

Dance of Thieves / Vow of Thieves ⚔

If you’ve been on my page for a few years now, you would know how much I ADORE Mary E. Pearson’s writing, specifically because of how well she executed her original series: The Remnant Chronicles. This duology is set a few years after that, following a different set of characters, but with a sense of familiarity here and there.

A former thief leads a mission in a faraway kingdom, infiltrating a powerful family in search of a convicted man. One thing led to another, and she finds herself chained to that very family’s leader, and forced to work together to survive.

Right off that bat, I can say that this duo follows Pearson’s formula in her previous series where she fills out the first book with rich characterization and relationship-building (romance-heavy and deliciously trope-filled), and then flies off in the succeeding books with complex politics and urgent plot progression. If you’re looking for non-cringey YA romance, with action, suspense, and politics that is so beautifully written, this is a great ride!

⚡️ Storytelling: It’s not the most brilliant book out there, even by Young Adult standards. But it’s captivating, impactful, and just straight up entertaining. And Pearson’s writing is always so magical and poetic. The passages, the emotion, the timing, and just the overall way the story was constructed. A+!
⚡️ The romance: it’s honestly one of the most natural falling in love stories I’ve read in a while, especially in fantasy. We have the classic enemies-to-lovers forced-to-work-together trope, but versus others in the genre, trauma dumps weren’t used here to form understanding, and love. It wasn’t based on “unexpected weaknesses” or “undeniable attraction.” Understanding stemmed from kindness and love from care. And the gradual feelings actually showed across the pages, not just in one “everything changed” moment.

Highly recommend this if you want romance that’s engaging and heart-thumping, but never annoying + a solid plot that will actually get you invested in the stakes, even if it’s not “end of the world” levels.

Verdict: LOVED the emotional impact + technique, JUST LIKED the world-building + politicking.⚔️

All the Books I Read While On Break ☽ It’s al

All the Books I Read While On Break ☽

It’s already 2023 and I’m still catching up on sharing what I’ve been up to while on hiatus in the latter part of 2022, haha. Nonetheless, I’m super stoked to get started with new 2023 content and fully immersing myself back into books and magical storytelling.

That said, here’s a quick rundown of the books I read while I was going crazy over life last year:
⚬ I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy: This was my first and only audiobook experience so far, and the hook that really got me to finally try out that Audible free trial was that Jennette herself read the official audiobook! And I think that really makes the story all the more impactful and personal. This was difficult to consume at times because of the subject matter, but it’s also surprisingly funny and touching at the same time. Really good and insightful read!

⚬ Elantris by Brandon Sanderson: A common denominator of all the books I read in the latter part of the year is that they were all VERY engaging, but it took me just so dang long to finish them because of life’s happenings. Sanderson always does the trick in getting me excited about storytelling, and Elantris was no different. Very impressed at how he was able to pack so much depth and finality in a standalone.

⚬ Namesake by Adrienne Young (Fable #2): Y’allll I think I’m getting too old for YA or something because this didn’t hit as hard as Book 1. I have no real problems with it, but it just didn’t really make an impact on me.

⚬ A Stranger in the House: A thriller and an attempt to get me to reading fast again! Actually successful because this one only had 305 pages, and it was a good quick and engaging read.

⚬ The Guest List by Lucy Foley: Much better than A Stranger in the House in terms of stirring my anxiety as a thriller novel. I get the hype now. I wish the ending had more satisfying moments and reveals, but the build up was solid enough that I would often lose chunks of my time just reading.

Total books read: 27. I literally ended June with 20 books, and only added 7 on the list. Here's to a better reading year in 2023! Hopefully I get to 30.

What's your favorite read from 2022?

Season’s greetings from Skimming Spines! ♥︎

Season’s greetings from Skimming Spines! ♥︎

Uhm. Er. Ah. Hi?

Yes, I’ve been gone from this side of the internet for roughly half a year, and yes I feel slightly wary coming back after so long. But if there’s one thing that unintentional hiatus taught me, it’s that I really need books in my life to maintain some sense of mental sanity and emotional stability. And while other parts of my life were going haywire with plot twists and plot points, while effectively tearing me away from books and storytelling, some deep sense of anxiety stirred inside me with the need to get lost in fantasy.

…..So now here we are — finally putting one step forward and back to my comfort space: skimming spines.

Characteristically long introduction aside, I’m wishing everybody a merry holidays, and a happy happy new year! 🎅🏼🎄🎇

I really want to say that this is me going back fully into the swing of booksta things, but my life has really just been full of shenanigans lately that I don’t even knowwwww. But here’s to trying, showing up, and braving through the restart.

So stoked to see what everyone’s been reading lately!!!! The universe knows I need some new recommendations. Comment down below what you’re currently reading!

Also, my favorite color is blue but I didn’t even notice that all my recent book hauls have just been blue books, lol.

Follow on Instagram

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: Connected account for the user skimmingspines does not have permission to use this feed type.