Trickey's Books

Thank you so much to the author for giving a review copy of this book! A Generation of Poppies by Saga Hillbom is a WWI historical fiction centering around the lives of Rosalie Wilkes and Charles D'Aboville and their experiences in the war effort. I almost described it as a historical romance but opted not to as, while romance is very much a big part of the plot, our two main characters spend large swaths of it on other endeavors alongside their desires for each other. Rosalie, an upper-class young woman from England, lies about her age to join the VADs and is sent to France to take care of injured soldiers. Charles, meanwhile, had no active desire to join the war efforts, and only did to avoid the consequences of refusal. There's a lot of set-up, as there always is in Hillbom's books, showing us the idyllic lives both characters lived before the war. Good friends, ample free time, and delicious food make a harsh contrast to the horrors of war later in the book. It's al...

Heart of the Fae by Emma Hamm is a Beauty and the Beast retelling with heavy, heavy inspiration from old Celtic mythology. Now, I can’t remember exactly how I heard about this book, but it was on my Amazon wishlist for a while and I stumbled across it again. I love books about faeries. I love books about healers. I love fairytale retellings. This is all three, and it is wonderful. The main character, Sorcha, is a midwife who lives in a brothel (side note: this book is sex work positive. How rare is that? Definite plus for me!) Her home, Uí Néill, is being plagued with horrible parasites, and her adoptive father falls prey to them. When begging for help from a mostly-forgotten goddess, Sorcha is sent on a journey that takes her to an island of exiled fae where a banished king, Eamonn, hides in an ancient castle. The writing is wonderful. Hamm is witty, descriptive, and thrilling in her style. Nothing moves too fast or too slow, and we get gorgeous descriptions of the fae lands and the...

Thank you to the Inspired Quill, Dorothy A. Winsor, and cardinalsluvbooks for providing a copy of The Trickster by Dorothy Winsor in return for an honest review! The Trickster follows two fascinating young protagonists: Dilly, a lady-in-waiting to a noblewoman, and Fitch, the son of a smuggler, who find themselves caught up in a dangerous plot that kicks up in the middle of the winter festival. Starting out with a rather whimsical scene of a girl in a winged costume with a loyal little dog, this book quickly surprises you with the tactful treatment of rather serious issues. Dilly and Fitch both have deep, complicated backstories that constantly affect the way they handle what they're going through in the present. Nor would one read the beginning and expect the political intrigue and truly sinister plans that our main cast needs to bring a stop to, and yet it works. The dark topics and realistically cruel villains slide in like puzzle pieces, making this book a page-turner you'...

Scars of Cereba by Rachel Emma Shaw is the sequel to The Last Memoria . Thanks to the author for providing me an ARC in return for an honest review! If you read my review of the last book, you’ll know that The Last Memoria was an incredibly dark book. This one is no different. If you struggle with depression or self-harm, this book might not be the best choice for you. It opens in a bleak setting, with Falon hanging from a pillar for public humiliation. He’s spent months imprisoned, with Sarilla long gone. Well, almost gone. At the end of the last book, Sarilla poured some of her memories into Falon. This resulted in a rather confusing format for the first portion of the book. Sarilla and two versions of Falon existed in his head, and it wasn’t always easy to tell which one was narrating, as it switched quite often. Personally, I think it might have been easier if each chapter for that portion was titled after whose PoV it was. It consists mostly of inner monologue, giving you a fron...

We return once again to Solaris in Kova’s newest novel: A Trial of Sorcerers . Taking place after the events of Crystal Caged, Solaris and Meru, previously known as the Crescent Continent, are now allies. We step away from the royal family, however, and the main character is a young woman named Eira. She’s a waterrunner, giving her command over water and ice, but her talents don’t stop there: she hears the voices of people attached to the objects they were near, making her privy to secrets that she was never supposed to know. Right off the bat, Eira is a likable character. She’s awkward and shy, obsessed with Meru, and unapologetic about her obsession. She always does her best, though she’s constantly held back by her family. She and her best friend, Alyss, have the best friendship, too. They always look out for each other, even if they won’t be happy about it. Eira is a fun character to follow and watch come into herself. The plot is absolutely thrilling. Conflict is introduced early ...

  The author, Kanika, sent me a free copy of this book in return for an honest review. Thank you! I want to get this out of the way first: the writing style didn’t particularly vibe with me. Kanika’s style has heavy use of dialogue, without much in the way of description. I’ve seen this style before, and I’ve enjoyed it in short stories, but for a longer book I really want more visuals to go along with the characters’ lines. It was several chapters in before we learned that our main character, Kara, has blue skin. It seems like a small detail, but it’s an important one. That being said, the characterization is good. You get a quick feel for all of them, especially the main two, Kara and Cifer. The dialogue is also well done: witty banter and long, emotional conversations abound across every page. Kanika is imaginative in how she presents her characters and their different ways of life, making a world that’s certainly intriguing, even if you wish you had more information about it. T...

Thank you, Netgalley, for this free review copy! A Universe of Wishes is a #WeNeedDiverseBooks short story collection, featuring a wide array of authors and an even wider array of stories. Before I officially get into the review, I’d like to make a quick disclaimer: I had to skip two stories because they were from series that I either haven’t read or haven’t read in completion yet. One of which was the A Darker Shade of Magic short story that everyone was so excited about. Sorry! Every story in this collection is either fantasy or sci-fi and, even though I’m not generally a fan of sci-fi, I found even those stories to be incredibly charming. Every author they chose is so talented, telling diverse stories that are either about the struggles of the minorities featured, or just about people who are PoC and/or LGBTQIA and just happily going about their lives. With so many stories, I’d struggle to review each one, so instead, I’m going to review four select favorites. It opens with “A Uni...

Before we start, I would like to thank author Elise Kova for providing a review copy of the box set! So, we left off Vortex Visions with Vi agreeing to leave her homeland and head to Meru to meet Taavin, and Chosen Champion starts off soon after that, as she’s waiting for the royal parade to take her home only so she can slip away partway through the journey and find her way to the Crescent Continent. Let me tell you, book two keeps up Kova’s exciting pacing, jumping right in with Vi practicing her Lightspinning magic with Taavin. Then it’s right to visiting a prisoner, then political intrigue, and long before the end of chapter one you’re already invested. This book also feels very relevant as I write this, as the world is being ravaged by an epidemic known as the White Plague. Vi is isolated, kept in the fortress for her own good, then when she sees the city it almost looks deserted as everyone keeps to their homes for fear of catching the plague. This book was, of course, written lo...

Thank you so much, Saga Hillbom, for sharing this ARC with me so I could review it! Earlier this year, Hillbom shared her previous book City of Bronze, City of Silver , with me and I absolutely loved it. It was a historical fiction about a woman from Sparta and a man from Athens, falling in love despite all odds. Princess of Thorns is another historical fiction, taking place in 1400s, England. It follows the life of real historical figure Cecily of York, one of many women in England’s history who’s frequently forgotten. This isn’t an exciting book, but that doesn’t keep it from being fascinating and heartbreaking. Cecily spends most of the book torn between loyalties, as her mother and her uncle stand on different sides, and being thrown around the country by adults looking out for nothing but their own agenda. Cecily’s growth is staggering. In her first PoV chapter, she pouts over getting a casket covered in rubies rather than diamonds, but that spoiled princess doesn’t last for long...

  Photo Credit: Elise Kova A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova is a fantasy romance perfect for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses . A young woman named Luella lives in Capton, a village right at the edge of the veil that separates the human world from the elf world, Midscape. For centuries, the elf king has come to the human world to find a bride: The Human Queen, the only human to be born with magic. It comes as no surprise that Luella is the Human Queen this time around, thus beginning our Beauty and the Beast-esque romance as she’s married to the elf king, Eldas, and whisked away to another world. Luella is characterized quickly. She’s a healer by trade, having spent years studying so she could help her village by treating the ill and injured. When she’s taken away from Capton, one of her first concerns is who will care for them, marking her as a selfless, hard-working person. Unfortunately, this sort of made her the most boring character for me. Now, Kova is amazing at wr...

The Omen of Stones is the indirect sequel to When Wishes Bleed by Casey L. Bond, by which I mean the characters from When Wishes Bleed play small roles, and one of the two main characters, River, is the son of the Sable, the MC from the first book. You don’t need to read When Wishes Bleed to understand The Omen of Stones , but I recommend that you do! We return to the same world, where magic and technology coexist and witches are feared, yet constantly needed for their magic.  This book opens with a frantic scene: a young witch giving birth to her triplets, named Omen, Lyric, and Sky. At the same time, River, the next Fate Witch, is born in the castle of Nautilus, the spiral-shaped kingdom where this book takes place. Questions are raised immediately when we find, years later, Omen was found alone by the river. Thus the mystery begins. What happened to Lyric and Sky, and the girls’ mother? A series of twists and turns that will lead you to gasping revelations is set in motion wh...

Welcome to my tour stop for THE BONE CARVER  by Monique Snyman! Right before the book's release tomorrow, welcome to the blog tour stop at my little corner of the internet! I would like to extend so much thanks to Monique Snyman and the Good Choice Reading team for choosing me for this occasion! Before I jump into the info, I would like to inform you that I received an eARC of The Bone Carver for free in exchange for my review! Synopsis For a small New England town, Shadow Grove has an uncanny ability to attract the worst kind of trouble. Not that the residents are too concerned about the various horrors living among them. As the leaves change color and the weather grows colder, a foul presence is making itself known by leaving peculiar gifts for the students of Ridge Crest High. At first, the presents seem harmless—and a rash of accidents seem coincidental—but when seniors Rachel Cleary and her Scottish cousin, Dougal Mackay, find a boneless body in the boiler room, thin...

It's an exciting day! Today, on October 9th, 2020, Casey L Bond has given a bunch of us the opportunity to share the title for her next book! I genuinely love her books and I'm slowly collecting them (it's my goal to get signed versions of all of them!), so I am beyond excited to get to do this! Are you ready? You sure? Let's go! WITH SHIELD AND INK AND BONE , coming out this November! Her cover reveal is coming October 16, the trailer is coming out on the 30th, and the release blitz is from November 13 to November 15th! I can't wait to see any of them! Not much has been revealed yet, but what I do know is that this is a historical fantasy about a biking witch (!!!!) and I'm thinking that the inclusion of this temporary tattoo means tattoos will play a part! As someone who'd love to get tatted up six ways to Sunday, tattoos in books always excite me. To find out more about her books and sign up for her newsletter, you can find her site  here ! Amazon links t...

Synopsis: A spellbinding story that weaves together powerful women, complex magic, and political intrigue. Wild and stubborn, Ora Widogast is determined to join her brother for the annual Tabas hunt. When he makes a terrible mistake, her brother is turned into a pig, and she is taken captive in the fae realm. There, the fae queen places her under the watchful eye of a cruel and powerful mage, Tyg Marigen, who despises humans. As a world of politics and old conflicts unfolds around Ora, she plans her escape, but then, she makes a dangerous discovery--she can use magic. Something no human has done before. To avoid Tyg's wrath and save her brother, she must find a way home before her secret is revealed. But, she has no idea how to control her newfound power. Review: Thank you so much, Sarah Day and Netgalley, for providing a free copy of Ora and the Old God in return for an honest review! Ora and the Old God is a Spirited Away -esque story about a girl whose brother is turned into a...