ARC Review: The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

If you were unaware, after years of me never shutting up about it…

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat is one of my all-time favorite books. So when I was offered the chance to read her upcoming book The Last Mapmaker, I was ecstatic!

While the bar was certainly set high with AWITD, I was not disappointed by The Last Mapmaker and its thrilling adventures. It has officially earned its own spot in my Thai-authored book shrine! (The only other book in the shrine is AWITD. It’s a Christina Soontornvat shrine.) And since I’ve convinced so many of you to read AWITD, my new plan is to do the same with The Last Mapmaker. And hopefully today’s review will do just that!

ARC Review: Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong // I Think I’m Just Heartless

Nothing humbles you like a disappointing anticipated release!

And nothing humbles you like a disappointing sequel specifically, one that follows a book you enjoyed!

While These Violent Delights took the book community by storm and had me and many other readers falling in love with it, I was sad to find myself experiencing nothing like that with its sequel. So, today I’m here to review Our Violent Ends and give my (unpopular) opinions on why I felt nothing over a book that was very much written to make me feel a lot!! 

*Contains spoilers for book 1, These Violent Delights.

ARC Review: It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi // A Messy Story about Family and Growth

I’ve been reading less YA contemporary these days.

But I’ve had It All Comes Back to You on my radar, especially ever since the gorgeous cover by Zahra Fatima was dropped, and I was so excited to read it. While it’s marketed as a romcom and that’s not usually what I reach for, I knew that it would also deal with heavier topics as well and was interested to see those explored.

What I didn’t expect was that it would be a lot less focused on romance and more so on family and individual character growth, which was honestly a better outcome than I could have expected. And today I’m here to review It All Comes Back to You in all its messy (in a good way) glory!

ARC Review: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan // A Radiant Fantasy about Destiny and Gender

As a picky reader, it is rare for me to find favorite books.

I can say without a doubt, though, that She Who Became the Sun is absolutely making my best of 2021 list, and near the top of it. It hit on so many of my personal tastes (morally grey gaysian characters is my form of heaven!), and there are truly endless things to love about it. And I can’t describe the joy of finding a new favorite book and not being the slightest bit disappointed after holding high expectations for it!!

Today I have a review of She Who Became the Sun, to do my best to convince you to pick this up! If the hype hasn’t already made you interested in it, I hope this review will, because all the praise you’ve heard for this book is completely deserved.

ARC Review: The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri // A Fiery and Feminist Fantasy

Sapphic Asian fantasy remains superior as always.

It will always feel special to me as a sapphic Asian, but something about these books truly just hit in a way like no other, and that’s no exception with The Jasmine Throne. The f/f romance (especially with morally grey characters) certainly does not disappoint, but the book also holds so much more than just romance: It’s a complex story about women and empire and every way those two things can intersect.

Since it releases today (in the US), I’m bringing you a review of The Jasmine Throne, where I can hopefully convince you to pick it up and wait in eager anticipation for the next book with me!!