Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin

Happy First day of the TBR and Beyond Tour for Primal animals! Thanks to much to TBR and Beyond for having me on this tour, as a lover of books with spooky girl vibes I’m super excited to dive into this book. Make sure to check the tour schedule for reviews on this book!

Synopsis:

Protect the girls

Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway—the same camp her mother attended year sago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a “fresh start” and will “change her life.” Little does Arlee know that, once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways. Even though the girls in her cabin are awesome—and she’s developing a major crush on thegirl who sleeps in the bunk above her—the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia. When she’s tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in…until her new “sisters” ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger

_{Content Warning: Blood, gore, mentions of Sexual harassment/assault}

For lowers of Wilder Girls, House of Hollow, the Grace Year and What Big Teeth, Primal Animals comes out May 24th and can be preordered from Barnes & Noble, Indigo, IndieBound, Book depository, and Amazon. Make sure to add this to your goodreads as well!

About the Author :

Julia Lynn Rubin lives the writer’s life in Brooklyn, where she finished an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults at The New School in 2017. For three years she served as a writing mentor for Girls Write Now, New York City’s premiere writing program for high school girls, and she continues to facilitate pre K literacy programs throughout Brooklyn at libraries and family shelters.

Julia has been writing books, poems, and stories since first grade, and loves reading about everything from film analysis (she’s a film nerd) to psychology and philosophy. Her short stories have appeared in publications such as the North American Review, Sierra Nevada Review, and The Lascaux Review, and she has written for a variety of online publications Including BuzzFeed, The Content Strategist , Fatherly and Wetpaint Entertainment.

Julia is passionate about realism and diversity in teen literature. She hopes to one day own a French bulldog, pug, Boston terrier, or perhaps a mix of all three. She loves indie films, drag shows, and spending as much time as possible at the beach. She is represented by Lauren Spieller or Triada US Literary Agency .

Author links – Website, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Facebook.

The Blood Trials By N.E. Davenport

Firstly thanks so much to Turn The Pages tours for having me on this tour for The Blood Trials by N.E Davenport! You can find the rest of the tour here. The Blood Trials is a fast-paced, action-packed blend of Fantasy and Science Fiction that’s gonna keep you turning the pages one after the other.

Synopsis:

It’s all about blood.

The blood spilled between the Republic of Mareen and the armies of the Blood Emperor long ago. The blood gifts of Mareen’s deadliest enemies. The blood that runs through the elite War Houses of Mareen, the rulers of the Tribunal dedicated to keeping the republic alive.

The blood of the former Legatus, Verne Amari, murdered.

For his granddaughter, Ikenna, the only thing steady in her life was the man who had saved Mareen. The man who had trained her in secret, not just in martial skills, but in harnessing the blood gift that coursed through her.

Who trained her to keep that a secret.

But now there are too many secrets, and with her grandfather assassinated, Ikenna knows two things: that only someone on the Tribunal could have ordered his death, and that only a Praetorian Guard could have carried out that order.

Bent on revenge as much as discovering the truth, Ikenna pledges herself to the Praetorian Trials–a brutal initiation that only a quarter of the aspirants survive. She subjects herself to the racism directed against her half-Khanaian heritage and the misogyny of a society that cherishes progeny over prodigy, all while hiding a power that–if found out–would subject her to execution…or worse. Ikenna is willing to risk it all because she needs to find out who murdered her grandfather…and then she needs to kill them.

Mareen has been at peace for a long time…

Ikenna joining the Praetorians is about to change all that.

Magic and technology converge in the first part of this stunning debut duology, where loyalty to oneself–and one’s blood–is more important than anything.

The Blood Trails by N.E. Davenport is out now and can be purchased from Barnes & Noble, Indigo, Book Depository and Amazon.

Check out my Tiktok later today for another fun post featuring The Blood Trials.

This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for having me on this tour for This Rebel Heart and a happy Pub day to this book as well!! This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke is out now so make sure to get yourself a copy! Barnes and Noble, Indigo, Amazon, IndieBound and Book Depository and You can also add it to your goodreads here.

Synopsis:

A tale set amid the 1956 Hungarian revolution in post-WWII Communist Budapest. In the middle of Budapest, there is a river. Csilla knows the river is magic. During WWII, the river kept her family safe when they needed it most–safe from the Holocaust. But that was before the Communists seized power. Before her parents were murdered by the Soviet police. Before Csilla knew things about her father’s legacy that she wishes she could forget. Now Csilla keeps her head down, planning her escape from this country that has never loved her the way she loves it. But her carefully laid plans fall to pieces when her parents are unexpectedly, publicly exonerated. As the protests in other countries spur talk of a larger revolution in Hungary, Csilla must decide if she believes in the promise and magic of her deeply flawed country enough to risk her life to help save it, or if she should let it burn to the ground

Reviews describe this book as absolutely gorgeous and devastating, and Stunning.
Make sure to check TW

About the author:

Katherine Locke (they/them) lives and writes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with their feline overlords and their addiction to chai lattes. They are the author of The Girl with the Red Balloon, a 2018 Sydney Taylor Honor Book and 2018 Carolyn W. Field Honor Book, as well as The Spy with the Red Balloon, and the forth coming This Rebel Heart(April 2022). They are the co-editor and contributor to This is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them and Us, which had three starred reviews and made Kirkus Review’s Best Middle Grade of 2021 list, as well as It’s A Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes and other Jewish Stories. They also contributed to Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens and Out Now: Queer We Go Again. They are the author of picture books Bedtime for Superheroes, What Are Your Words? A Book About Pronouns, and the forth coming Being Friends with Dragons (February2022).They can be found online at KatherineLockeBooks.com and @bibliogato on Twitter and Instagram. Goodreads | Facebook |

A Magic Steeped In Poison by Judy I. Lin

A Magic Steeped in Poison can be described as magical, enchanting, wonderful and whimsical. The story follows Ning who is competing to try and save her sisters from an illness she feels is her own fault. A Magic Steeped in Poison immediately grabbed my attention and my heart! Being the eldest sister in my house I immediately connected with Ning because I would do the same thing in her place. And the story very rapidly pulls you in! When I started it I blinked and then suddenly was 100 pages in.

Don’t be deceived, my mother once told me. The stars are not as peaceful as they appear. The astronomers are tasked with deciphering their celestial travels, prophecies that predict the rise and ruin of great families and kingdoms. They burn with as much ferocity as our sun.

Everything in this story from world building, to characters to writing style screams ‘top favorite book’ to me. Judy I. Lin’s writing in this book gave me such a sense of adventure but also really makes the reader feel immersed in this story – it was so hard for me to pull myself away that I read this in one sitting! This is a book you have to read for yourself to full experience but believe me when I say it is delightfully enchanting. 5 Stars!

Human hands make mistakes Ning, but they are the hands the gods gave us. We use them to make amends, to do good things.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin comes out March 29th and can be purchased anywhere books are sold – Amazon, Barnes &Noble, Book Depository, Indigo, IndieBound. Make sure to add it to your Goodreads as well! I’ll add the synopsis below as well. Happy reading!

Judy I. Lin’s sweeping debut A Magic Steeped in Poison, first in a duology, is sure to enchant fans of Adrienne Young and Leigh Bardugo.

I used to look at my hands with pride. Now all I can think is, “These are the hands that buried my mother.”

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it’s her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.

When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom’s greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning’s only chance to save her sister’s life.

But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.

About the Author –

Judy I. Lin was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Canada with her family at a young age. She grew up with her nose in a book and loved to escape to imaginary worlds. She now works as an occupational therapist, and still spends her nights dreaming up imaginary worlds of her own. She lives on the Canadian prairies with her husband and daughter. A Magic Steeped in Poison is her debut novel. Website Twitter Instagram Goodreads

Make sure to follow the rest of the tour here

Kelcie Murphy and the academy for the unbreakable arts by Erika Lewis

Book tour post for Turn The Pages tours! This is a middle grade fantasy filled with adventures, dangers & Celtic mythology! Set in a magical school featuring a heroine with hidden powers and perfect for fans of Percy Jackson!

Brimming with Celtic mythology, action, and danger, Erika Lewis’s Kelcie Murphy and The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts introduces readers to a new kind of magical school and a warrior who must choose with which side of an epic battle her destiny will lie. The Otherworld is at war. The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts trains warriors. And Kelcie Murphy—a foster child raised in the human world—is dying to attend. A place at AUA means meeting Scáthach, the legendary trainer of Celtic heroes. It means learning to fight with a sword. It means harnessing her hidden powers and—most importantly—finding out who her parents are, and why they abandoned her in Boston Harbor eight years ago. When Kelcie tests into the school, she learns that she’s a Saiga, one of the most ancient beings in the Otherworld. Secretive, shunned, and possessed of imposing elemental powers, the Saiga are also kin to the Otherworld’s most infamous traitor. But Kelcie is a survivor, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find her parents and her place in their world. Even if that means making a few enemies.

Erika Lewis grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, spent summers with her grandparents in Worcester, Massachusetts, and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. With a passion for storytelling set in magical places, she spends as much time as she can traveling. When she’s not writing, she can generally be found scribbling notes in a blank book while wandering through abandoned buildings, all kinds of museums, and grave yards. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, her list of credits straddles the comics and novel space, including Game of Shadows from Macmillan’s Tor Books, Firebrand and A cursian from Legendary Comics, #Guardian from Awesome Media & Entertainment, and The 49th Key from Heavy Metal Publishing. The Color of Dragons is her debut YA, coming from HarperTeen October 19th, 2021, and Kelcie Murphy and The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts is her middle grade debut coming from Starscape/MacmillanMarch 1st, 2022. Make sure to follow her on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook! and on Goodreads!

The Dragon Heir by Amelia Wood

Steel and vengeance…

Ember Ignis, the heir of House Draco, knows hatred. She’s grown up in it, reveled in it, under the watchful eye of her mother, Lady Verity. Second only in power to the royal family, Ember and Verity are practically untouchable.

That is, of course, until Verity goes missing, leaving Ember scrambling to find her mother as rumors of a powerful rebel group spread. Armed only with rumors and the assistance of a lesser son from a low house, she is willing to cleave the world apart to get her mother back.

All the while, the crown prince of House Phoenix, Asher Cinis, struggles with a crushing addiction that dulls the abuse he endures at his mother’s hands. He prepares to flee, to abandon duty and honor- until Juniper Farley, a new servant at the palace, steps into his life and sees him beyond the crown.

As Ember races to find her mother before the consequences turn deadly, and Asher struggles to choose between his head and his heart, they find enemies lurking in every corner, and that the brightest smiles hide the darkest secrets.

The Dragon Heir can be preordered through Amazon! It comes out March 12th, 2022.

Amelia Wood is a teenage author based out of Tennessee, US. Her debut novel, The Dragon Heir, is set to publish in early 2022. For more information on the upcoming release of her books, sign up for her free newsletter and follow her on Instagram.

Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

I want to start this off with Horror Hotel is SUCH a fun read! Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Book tours for having me on this tour! For all my spooky/mystery lovers out there this book is for you. The first thing that captivated me about this book was of course the cover, I mean just look at it! I absolutely loved all the little details in this that hinted at true crime, horror, and mystery all in one. I will admit I was a little worried about the characters all being seniors in high school I usually tend to stay away from books with those types of settings but I’m pleased to say that did not get in the way of this story at all! If anything it actually accented the setting and set the pace for lots of spooky factor more than an adult cast of characters would. Horror Hotel is delightfully spooky and just gruesome enough for all types of horror fans. I really enjoyed the writing in this all the depictions of the ghosts had me looking over my shoulder – also I 1000000% recommend the audio book it just really brings this story to life- and theres a full cast of narrators!

Over all I would rate Horror Hotel a 5 out of 5 stars. It checked all of my boxes: spooky, keeps the reader engaged within the setting, fast paced, a related cast of characters (I adored Emma!!) and a very satisfying turn of events! Make sure to grab your copies of Horror Hotel which is out now – Amazon , Barnes & Noble , Book Depository, Indigo & IndieBound. And make sure to add it to your GoodReads! And If you don’t believe me just check out my mood board! and make sure to read the synopsis below.

Horror Hotel

This addictive YA horror about a group of teen ghost hunters who spend the night in a haunted LA hotel is The Blair Witch Project for the TikTok generation.

When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers—and ultimately harmless.

But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads.

Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our help—and the living we should fear.

Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.

Authors Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

About the authors:

Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren are an award-winningcoauthor duo who write edgy rom-coms and frightening horror with plenty of smooching, friendship and movie references. Originally hailing from Ohio and Texas, respectively, they met in an online writing workshop where their friendship quickly blossomed into a partnership demanding they live in the same state. Now they both work and write in too-sunny Los Angeles, CA. Victoria lives with her fiancé and their two cat children and co-runs a PR agency with her other best friend in her spare time. Faith eats home baked goods made by her husband, raises a wolf-loving son, and wrangles two scruffy dogs, while also working as a book coach and developmental editor, and writing YA and women’s fiction under her real name Rebekah Faubion.

Author Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/victoriaxfaith

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriaxfaith/

Victoria’s Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21368841.Victoria_Fulton Faith’s Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21368842.Faith_McClaren

Click Here for the tour schedule.

A Cuban Girls Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

But I remember we’re both stars Estrellita and Orion a fierce little star and a warrior constellation

A Cuban Girls Guide to Tea and Tomorrow has been not only one of my favorite reads of this year but this book was all about healing for me. In the book our MC has to deal with so much loss but one of those things being the loss of her beloved grandmother, something I had to deal with a while back something that I overcame through this book along side Lila.

Not to mention that as someone who was born in Cuba and raised here in Miami this book warmed my heart in ways that I had no idea I needed. Own voices matter so so much my friends.

I would also like to point out that while reading this book I had SO much café cubano and pastelitos so fair warning you will have cravings haha This is a story about pain, this is a story about love, its about growth and healing and it means so so much to me 💖

I also had the please of making a double sided bookmark for Unplugged book box with the designs you see above!

Thank you to Hear our Voices tours for picking me to be part of the tour for this very special book.

But Lila Reyes from Miami was not without ideas and tricks

Palace of Silver by Hannah West

Palace of Silver by Hannah West quickly became one of my favorite reads of this year, for many reasons of course but one of them being the authors ability to create the world that she has between all three books (Kingdom of Ash and Briars is book one and Realm of Ruins is book two) this series is one that I would definitely recommend to lovers of fantasy and retellings! I was honestly hooked from book one this author has a way of showing you her MC’s heart and it makes you really develop a love for the stories. I also want to mention her ability to intertwine fairy tells in her main plot, now I wouldn’t consider this whole series a retelling of a specific fairytale – you’ll just have to read it for yourself 😉

Now, homesickness was not only a wistful pining for distant shores and bygone days, but something far more profound; it was a soul-deep yearning for what could have been and would never be – a need to grasp everything wholesome and beautiful in this world yolked with an acute awareness that it was not mine to grasp.

The history and world building in this is something that I will be talking about for freaking forever honestly. I am so impressed with the web that Hannah West has created within The Nissera Chronicles that I’m a little sad I don’t get to experience this for the first time again. All the way from my love Bristal to Valory to Glisette and Kadri I can’t say that I disliked a single MC or their stories. I also need to mention the political dynamic is so on point and I loooove a good political dialogue in a book about kings and queens. This book and this series hit all of the points for me when it comes to fantasy and I wouldn’t mind it at all if The Nissera Chronicles continued. I’m rating this book 4 stars!! Make sure to check this series out and add it to your quarantine tbr!!

Crave by Tracy Wolff

Okay so first I just want to Keyboard smash real quick djlwkjhbfkjhwebkugbkrb because THAT is how I feel about Crave – in the absolute best freaking way. This book has made me laugh, made me roll my eyes, I’m pretty sure I even hugged it at one point? Other people hug their books right, or is that just me? Today’s review is part of my tour with Fantastic Flying book club but honestly even if I wasn’t on the tour I would absolutely have to review this and tell everyone to pick this book up! (or I might just throw it at everyone – with love)

I have heard nothing but good things about this book and then yesterday I found out that some people are saying its a Twilight knock off to which I say -fart noise- don’t be a jerk. Crave is the perfect blend of Twilight and Vampire Academy that I didn’t know I needed. It was funny, it was dark, it has a snarky bad ass MC and a mysterious vampire boy, and a giant gothic castle – whats not to love? This 500+ paged beauty was so difficult to put down I think I was awake until about 4 am reading it one night. The story has a way of grabbing on to you and its impossible to let go until you’re done. (Now that I’m Done with Crave I’m like cool now what)

Grace and Jaxon – Jaxon and Grace – I’m just gonna write a whole paragraph with their names, would that make me look crazy? They are one of the main reasons I couldn’t let this book go – not the only reason though because I loved everything about this book – I loved their dynamic but I also love the people around them. Which brings me to Jaxons ‘order’ or should I just say Mekhi? Because he is my absolute favorite!! Okay if I keep talking about this im going to spoil stuff but just freaking read this book. Go right now. Go buy it online. (social distancing and all that) And as for Grace’s cousin Macy -must protect at all costs- She is the perfect best friend for this story and I feel like she was the perfect character to balance out Grace.

The story and world building were incredible I don’t think I would need to convince anyone of that. Everything from the description of the gothic castle which I love love love to the dynamic between the supernatural creatures, the magic, the fight scenes, every puzzle piece in this story was perfectly placed and thought out, even the villain 😉 Which of course I am NOT going to spoil – figure it out on your own like everyone else (:

Any and every supernatural/fantasy YA romance can be a little silly and its impossible for people to not say this is a twilight knockoff but they’re just haters don’t listen to them – listen to me when I tell you Crave deserves a chance- and as much as I adore the cover DO NOT judge it by its cover. I honestly give Crave 5 stars for stealing my heart from beginning to end. Remember its now available to go grab your copy!

“Have you ever wanted something so much that you were afraid to take it?”

He nods. “Yes”

“Like its right there, waiting for you to just reach out and grab it, but you’re so terrified of what will happen when you lose it that you never make the reach?”

“Yes” he says again, his voice burrowing inside me.

I tilt my head up until our eyes meet, and I whisper, “What did you do?”

For long seconds he doesn’t say anything. He just stares back at me with a look as scarred and broken as the rest of him. And says, “I decided to take it anyways.”

Then he leans down and presses his lips to mine.