A hot fantasy that I enjoyed enough | The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

January 7, 2024 by louisereads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

This one is really different from what I expected out of a fantasy romance, which is undoubtedly a good thing. It was way darker, for one thing, and didn’t rely on a commanding all-powerful vampire as the heroine’s lifeline. I think the worst thing a story of this genre can do is have bland characters with zero chemistry, and that is absolutely not this book. I very unexpectedly fell in love with Raihn, who, despite how he is described in the synopsis, really wasn’t an aggressive man at all. The scenes between him and Oraya were actually really hot. Again, chemistry and characters are the most important to me in any kind of romance.

Unfortunately, the remaining elements of the story fell a little flat for me. I wanted just a bit more world building and maybe more insight into both Oraya and Vincent’s character. The pacing was a little off for me, too. I think the story would have really benefitted from throwing us right into the Kejari, with some backtracking to fill in Oraya’s history with Vincent. I would have loved to understand the history of the different vampires and why they are against each other.

I should reiterate that this story really nailed what I needed it to–the romance and character building was impeccable. It just could have been that much better with some added detail and fixed pacing. I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the second book yet to finish the duology, but I’m leaning toward yes just to see how Oraya and Raihn’s relationship plays out.

Have you read this series? Should I continue on with it?

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BPD, finishing grad school, attention issues, and more! | 2024 Wrap-Up

December 31, 2023 by louisereads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It has been a whole year since I last wrote on this blog. Lots of emotions come up when I think of this: shame, grief, frustration, tiredness. Maybe more that I can’t think of (thank you to my new therapist, Rachael, for making me identify my emotions in literally any scenario). I was so excited when I started this whole thing, and I told myself I needed to be consistent lest it be another project that gets left behind. However, that is exactly what happened. I do have my excuses, though. This year, I finished grad school and became a professional librarian at a college! I was also diagnosed with ADHD and likely BPD (still working on this one). Things happened in my life this year that really kicked these two disorders into overdrive, and to be honest, I spent a lot of time watching my life from the outside, doing what I needed to do to stay on the path I needed without putting too much of myself into it. This is all to say that while I’m not happy with myself for letting this fall to the wayside, I give grace to myself knowing that I have the tools now to get where I want to be.

With all that going on in my life, I also just let social media get the best of me. The feelings of emptiness I felt were combatted with endless scrolling on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. I spent so much time wasting my time that I only read 18 books this year (19 if I finish the romance I’m reading later). I’m not one for New Years Resolutions (why wait until a new year to try to change, right?) But now that I have some free time off from work this week, it’s easier to see exactly how I want to be using the rest of my time going forward. I want this to be a space for me to talk about books and my life as a librarian. It’s what I originally intended to do with this blog, but I really want to commit to it this time. I think I have the tools and the time now. I think I can.

Not everything was bad this year, though! I got engaged, my fiancé and I adopted the sweetest senior dog, I love my job, and we moved into a new house! This was a scary year for me mentally, but I am very lucky to have the life I do, and I am excited to be able to fully enjoy it.

I won’t dwell on the amount of books I read (it’s not a competition anyway!!!), but I will share my favorites in no particular order from this year. Hopefully it will inspire my reading for 2024.

THE MERCIES BY KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE

Lesbians, 17th century Norway, witchcraft . . . what else could you need? That’s really all you need to know about this one.

FOURTH WING BY REBECCA YARROS

Unless you’ve been cut off from the book community for the last year, you know about this one. I sent my fiancé out for the sequel this year, and he was shocked by the amount of people who came up to him in the Barnes & Noble so excited for him to read it. This one is so hot. And the plot is good too, I GUESS 😉

LOVE, THEORETICALLY BY ALI HAZLEWOOD

I would read this woman’s grocery lists. I think I’ve said that before, too, but I doubly mean it now. I just love anything women in STEM so add in a hot romance–it’s like it was written just for me. If you like romance and haven’t read her yet, what the fuck are you doing?!?

What are some things or books you’re looking forward to in 2024? Do you have any resolutions?

A Librarian’s Week in Review 1/29/22: Questions for the Curious

January 29, 2022 by louisereads ♥ 2 Comments

This week, I had a patron come to the desk looking for help with the printers. She started off by declaring her question as stupid and continued to apologize multiple times as I was helping her. I felt guilty. Was I not being welcoming enough? Did I look unapproachable at the desk? I don’t think this was it. She began our interaction apologetically.

How many times in the past have I been too afraid to ask question or apologized in advanced for sounding dumb? Most of my reference questions this week were directional–where is this building or how do I get to that classroom? I can’t say how happy I am when I receive a question, even one like these. I love that my patrons feel comfortable enough to walk up to a stranger and ask any question, big or small.

For me, and for many, it takes courage to ask for help. Saying out loud that you need help tells others you are vulnerable, that you are not fully self-reliant. There is a certain shame in doing this in our individualistic society which is why I love when people admit that they do need help, that they can’t meet all of their needs and need others in a community to aide them.

So, a question for the curious: how do you find the courage to ask for help? What can others do to make asking for help or asking questions seem less daunting? Librarians, what do you do to make your patrons more comfortable in seeking your services?

Books Read This Week