ARC Review: The Burning God by RF Kuang // The Heartbreaking End to One of My Favorite Series

It’s been almost half a year since I read this book, and I’m still recovering.

If you’ve been around here for the past year, you’ll know that one of my all-time favorite series is The Poppy War. The Burning God, the last book of the series, was my most anticipated release of the year. And wow, was it an experience. It broke me, and all I can say thank you, Ms. Kuang!

I’m not going to write any more for this intro (this review is practically an essay at over 1.6k words long), but if you haven’t read The Poppy War or The Dragon Republic, I would skip over the first half of my review! I don’t mention any specific spoilers for any books, but you could assume certain things based on what I say!!

Blog Tour Review (+ INTL Giveaway): These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong // A Beautiful Romeo & Juliet Retelling ft. Colonialism

There are times when you finish a book and all you can do is sit in silence.

Today, I’m here to review (and convince you all to read) These Violent Delights, a highly anticipated book I’m sure all of you have heard of and have been counting down the days until. When I reached the end of it, I lay on my couch in silence with a feeling in my chest akin to the release of a held breath, a sense of awe washing over me as the full weight of the book and everything in it sunk in. And I can’t wait for you all to feel the same way about it too.

Also, I’m mentioning this for absolutely no reason at all, but… tomorrow (Nov 17) is my birthday, aka this book’s release date, so maybe you could buy this book and get a 21-year-old Asian author on the NYT bestselling list as a cool birthday gift to me!!!

Thank you so much to Shealea and Caffeine Book Tours for making it possible for me to have received an ARC of this and to be a part of this blog tour!

Blog Tour Review: Iron Heart by Nina Varela // Beautiful Prose and Yearning

Another day, another sapphic book!

Last year, I fell in love with the YA fantasy Crier’s War. It had everything I wanted in a book: slowburn enemies to lovers f/f, compelling characters, and absolutely stunning writing. I’m so excited to have been able to read the sequel Iron Heart and be reviewing it today! If you’re eagerly awaiting this book after having read the first one, or interested in this series (especially with their gorgeous covers), I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Thank you so much to Shealea for making it possible for me to have received an ARC of this book and be a part of this blog tour!

There are no spoilers for Iron Heart in this review, and though I tried my best to keep every reference I made to the events of Crier’s War vague, they may be viewed as spoilers, so take care!

Blog Tour Review: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea G Stewart // Immersive Fantasy that Unfurls Deliciously

I’m back with another Asian fantasy to push on to you!

I am so excited to be here today to talk about and review The Bone Shard Daughter, which was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. While it was not what I expected, I loved it so much and I can’t wait to see others fall in love with it too! (And I’ll say after being disappointed by several Asian fantasies this year, I am beyond happy this was quite an exception.

Thank you so much to Kate for making it possible for me to have received an ARC of this book and be a part of this blog tour!

Review: The Poppy War by RF Kuang // My Favorite Book of the Year and Forever

For once… a regular book review? 

I truly never post reviews on my blog of books that aren’t ARCs (and therefore had to post). The last time I did this was literally the year I started blogging, since everyone knows reviews get low engagement and I’m sad when people don’t talk to me!

But today I’m making history!! Because 1) I have absolutely zero blog post ideas anymore, and 2) I need to officially recognize my love for The Poppy War on my blog with a review.

Before I get into the very long review, I want to note that I picked this book for an English project, so I’m more analytical than usual since I had to look at the book in a more critical lens. It reads more like an essay than my other reviews, because I actually had to write an essay!