10 Reasons why you should read The Brown Sisters books by Talia Hibbert

I have recently read, and ridiculously loved, all three books in The Brown Sisters-series by Talia Hibbert. Before starting, I had heard so many good things about the series already and added them to my TBR, but what pulled me over the edge to finally read them was the fact that the author and publisher offered ARCs of the third book, Act Your Age, Eve Brown to autistic reviewers and I immediately pulled up the audiobooks of book one and two to binge. Now that the last book in the holy trinity is out and I have read, loved and reviewed it, I just want to come to you to tell you exactly what makes this series so great and why you should definitely read it. I have tried my best to turn my gushing and pure neurodivergent excitement into proper words, and I think I did a pretty decent job!

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This post discusses an adult romcom series, so there will be explicit language and mentions of sex.

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Marginalized characters in romance

Something I absolutely adore about Talia Hibbert is her passion to write books with diverse characters. She believes that marginalised people need honest and positive representation and deserve to see themselves in romance books. Disabled people are often comic relief in books and bisexual characters turn out to be sexualised quite often. Seeing both in a healthy and quite normal romance setting and having hot sex was just incredible; they were treated like just regular people by these books, which is still quite rare, but so welcome.

More than just romance and sex

The romance-genre was never really my thing; when the entire plot is people falling in love and bang, my mind just wanders away. I am an aspec person, just plain attraction is something I don’t connect to the same way most people do, so standard romance is just confusing and feels plotless to me personally. The Brown Sisters-sisters series, however, is just so much more than two people falling in love and banging. Each character is developed from the ground up and is actually part of a story; even the love interests aren’t just there to be eye candy. Because of this, the romance and eventual hot sex actually paid off properly.

Amazing writing

Talia Hibbert hands down writes amazing prose; it’s so nice to read and it just flows so well. Her writing is the type of writing that just keeps my attention and makes me want to read a hundred pages in one sitting. With a lot of books I really have to strain myself to read, understand, not trail off and just keep reading and with Talia Hibbert’s writing it just happens naturally.

Steamy

Lots of books have sex in them, like actually a lot. The thing is though, that in quite a number of books the sex is told poetically, in methaphors or it skips through the details making the whole segment perhaps less than a page long. But in the Brown Sisters books, no detail is spared. The best part is, the sex is about the pleasure of both parties involved, and not just a guys sticking himself in a girl and it being all about what he feels, which is something I greatly dislike.

For those who are less interested in the sex scenes, they are quite skippable as the story often starts rolling again after the sexy times are complete. There is some sexual attraction and hornyness happening at in random places, a bit more in Take A Hint, Dani Brown, compared to the other two, but they are only brief.

Sisterhood

Something that is clear in this series is that the Brown Sisters love each other more than anything and the sisterly love is present through all three books. Just the way they communicate or casually hang out in a group call regularly, it clearly shows these young women would do anything to make sure the others are safe and happy. In a lot of books, siblings either dislike each other or are quite indifferent, especially when they are only small characters in the story, which is a shame. Healthy sibling relationships are needed in books just as much as any other healthy relationship is needed and Talia Hibbert did an amazing job writing these three sisters.

Body positivity

None of the Brown Sisters are skinny; they are curvy and they own it. They are proud of their bodies and it absolutely shows, and other characters don’t make any uncalled for comments either. On top of that, all of the love interests see their bodies as the embodiments of beauty and are positively attracted, completely beating the negative attitude that was brought into the world that men aren’t attracted to women that aren’t skinny-thin.

Enemies-to-lovers

If you like this trope, you are in luck as two out of three books in this series has a version of enemies-to-lovers, but in a vastly different way: Act Your Age, Eve Brown has a grumpy VS sunshine pairing, whereas in Get A Life, Chloe Brown you get a sarcastic heroine with an attitude and cinnamon roll hero with a motorbike.

What I have seen in the community is that people love this trope, but are always a bit weary of it, as masculinity in a lot of books nowadays creates scenarios of dubious consent and whether or not they are really in love or perhaps there’s a case of Stockholm going. Let me comfort you by saying that the men in these books are respectful and kind human beings, all incredible partners for the sisters and even though none of them are my type, I would gladly be their friend or see them date my friend.

Fake dating

The second trope in this series is friends-to-lovers fake dating and it’s glorious! In Take a Hint, Dani Brown the main character and love interest start out as friends, the kind that one brings the other coffee in the morning and the other makes sure the first had breakfast. But due to unforeseen circumstances, they go viral together and people see them as a couple and they keep up the façade as it’s giving some well needed attention to the love interest’s sports charity for kids. I have been weak for the fake dating trope ever since I watched the really gay show Faking It years ago and honestly, this premise is the first one in years that made me feel that good about the trope as that show did years ago.

Autism in a positive light

Representation of autism in media is just a plain shit show. Often written by non-autistic writers, autistic characters are often introduced as comic relief, The Problem of the plot, the charity case or a tool for another character to become ”better”. Just to see any flicker of positivity surrounding an autistic character these days makes me cry from relief. Can you imagine the waterfalls I poured about the third book in this series? (The answer is no.) The autistic representation was so natural; the autism of the characters was just a part of them and not an issue for anyone and in any moment. To see two autistic characters being part of a story that is not about autism nor their only character trait is that they’re autistic just made me incredibly joyous and shows how proper representation is done.

Bisexual is bisexual

Danika Brown, the protagonist of the second book, is an openly bisexual woman, and Hibbert succeeds beautifully at letting that just exist. In a lot of books the validity of the bisexuality gets questioned depending on the gender of the love interest, or even past part partners and that happens most often when the bisexual person is a woman with a man as her partner. But not for Danika; dating Zafir still leaves unapologetically bisexual and it’s a gift. Bonus points for that fact that Zafir is a respectful man and didn’t make weird comments on it whatsoever; he accepts that her being bisexual doesn’t mean anything more than her being attracted to more genders than just men, and nothing outside of that.

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Tell me, had you already heard about these books or is this your first time hearing about The Brown Sisters? Did I convince you to go and read them, or was that already your plan? Let me know in the comments!

My reviews
Get A Life, Chloe Brown | Take A Hint, Dani Brown | Act Your Age, Eve Brown

Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Scribd
Bol.com (affiliate)

• Enemies to lovers
• Attitude VS cinnamon roll
• A cat that needed rescuing
• Lead with chronic pain

Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Scribd
Bol.com (affiliate)

• Friends to lovers
• Fake dating
• Going viral as a couple
• Bisexual lead

Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Scribd
Bol.com (affiliate)

• Enemies to lovers
• Sunshine VS grumpy
• Running a B&B together
• Actually Autistic leads

10 Autistic Authors You Should Check Out!

It was about time I gave some of my favourite #ActuallyAutistic authors a shoutout on my blog. There are more than enough out there to make a few more parts of this list, but I wanted to focus on authors I have read their book(s) from, or have followed them for a while.

I really love how 3 out of 10 names listed below are Dutch authors, as I am Dutch myself. And also that 4 out of 10 use they/them pronouns one way or the other. There are just relatively little autistic authors out there and to have so many I can relate to in some way besides the autism part just makes me feel really good.

Before I move on to actually introducing each of these authors, I want to say that I have been happy stimming quite a lot while making this post and I think that really fits the theme and is just generally a positive thing I wanted to share with everyone! ☺️✨

Note: Books marked with * are books with autism representation or has autism as a (main) topic that I know of.

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Lizzie ”Hux” Huxley-Jones (they/them)

Editior of Stim: An Autistic Anthology* (2020) and author of David Attenborough: A Life Story (2020)

Lizzie (Hux) Huxley-Jones is an autistic author and editor based in London. They are the editor of Stim, an anthology of autistic authors and artists, which was published by Unbound in April 2020 to coincide with World Autism Awareness Week. They are also the author of the children’s biography Sir David Attenborough: A Life Story.
They can be found editing at independent micropublisher 3 of Cups Press, and they also advise writers as a freelance sensitivity reader and consultant. In their past career lives, they have been a research diver, a children’s bookseller and digital communications specialist.

Twitter | Website | Goodreads

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Elle McNicoll (she/her)

Author of the #OwnVoices MG novels A Kind of Spark* (2020) and Show Us Who You Are* (2021)

Elle is a Scottish and Neurodivergent writer, happily living in London. She graduated with a first in Creative Writing and has worked as a bookseller, bartender, blogger and babysitter—all while writing stories for her own amusement. After completing her Masters dissertation on the lack of Own Voices representation for Neurodivergent children, she grew tired of the lack of inclusivity in the industry, and wrote a book herself.
Her first children’s novel, A Kind of Spark, was published in June 2020 by award-winning indie press Knights Of and stars two openly autistic young women and swiftly became the Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Month in June and was announced as both The Times and The Sunday Times’ Children’s Book of the Week!

Twitter | Website | Goodreads

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Corinne Duyvis (she/her)

Author of The Art of Saving the World (2020), On the Edge of Gone* (2016), Otherbound (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy: Collect Them All (2017)

Corinne Duyvis is the critically acclaimed author of the YA sci-fi/fantasy novels Otherbound, which Kirkus called “a stunning debut;” On the Edge of Gone, which Publishers Weekly called “a riveting apocalyptic thriller with substantial depth;” and The Art of Saving the World, which Kirkus called “impossible to put down.” She is also the author of the original Marvel prose novel Guardians of the Galaxy: Collect Them All. Corinne hails from the Netherlands. She’s a co-founder and editor of Disability in Kidlit as well as the originator of the #ownvoices hashtag.

Twitter | Website | Goodreads

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Talia Hibbert (She/he/they)

Author known for The Princess Trap (2018) and The Brown Sisters Series with Act Your Age, Eve Brown* (2021) being the third and final installment.

Talia Hibbert is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who lives in a bedroom full of books. Supposedly, there is a world beyond that room, but she has yet to drum up enough interest to investigate.
She writes steamy, diverse romance because she believes that people of marginalised identities need honest and positive representation. Her interests include makeup, junk food, and unnecessary sarcasm. Talia and her many books reside in the English Midlands.

Twitter | Website | Goodreads

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Marieke Nijkamp (she/they/optional)

Author known from Even If We Break* (2020), The Oracle Code (2020), Before I Let Go (2018), This is Where It Ends (2016).

Credit: Karin Nijkamp

Marieke Nijkamp is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of YA novels, graphic novels, and comics, including This Is Where It Ends, Before I Let Go, Even If We Break, and The Oracle Code. Her short stories can be found in several anthologies. She also edited the anthology Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens.
Marieke is a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, and geek. Before pursuing her lifelong passion for writing, she majored in philosophy and medieval history. She loves to go on adventures, roll dice, and daydream. She lives and writes in Small Town, The Netherlands.
Marieke is the founder of DiversifYA and was a founding sr. VP of We Need Diverse Books.

Twitter | Website | Goodreads

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M.N. Jolley (he/him)

Author of The Sacrosanct Records Series and KC Warlock Weekly: Accused* (2020)

M.N. Jolley is a creative professional born and raised in Kansas City, where he still lives. Working with a background in film and cinematography, he began writing seriously in 2016 and has written four novels in the “The Sacrosanct Records” series and released the first ”KC Warlock Weekly” book in 2020.
Jolley recently made has al his book available for free on his website as he believes everyone should have access to books. Download his books here.

Twitter | Website | Goodreads

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Kaia Sønderby (she/her)

Author of the Xandri Corelel Series: Testing Pandora (2016), Failure to Communicate (2017) and Tone of Voice (2018)

Kaia Sønderby is an American currently residing in Sweden with her Danish husband. She hopes to eventually escape to a warmer country that actually sees the sun for more than one month out of every year. Her hobbies include reading, playing video games, various and sundry art projects—usually involving far too much glitter—and being a feminist killjoy, and her interests vary from history to the paranormal to maritime disasters. She is also the proud momma of a continually expanding array of rodents (expanding in numbers, not just expanding outwards, though they’re doing that too).

Twitter | Website | Goodreads

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Bianca Toeps (she/her)

Author of Maar je ziet er helemaal niet autistisch uit* (2019) / But you don’t look autistic at all* (2020)

Bianca Toeps is 36 and from the Netherlands, although she now spends three to six months a year in Tokyo. She divides her time between building websites, photography and her online shop. She photographed and designed the cover of her 2019 book, But you don’t look autistic at all, which has now sold more than 15,000 copies in The Netherlands and has recently been translated into English. Bianca received her autism diagnosis at the age of 25.

Twitter🇳🇱 / Instagram🇬🇧 | Blog🇳🇱 / Blog🇬🇧 | Goodreads

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C.G. Drews (she/her)

Author of A Thousand Perfect Notes (2018) and The Boy Who Steals Houses* (2019)

C.G. Drews is the author of A THOUSAND PERFECT NOTES and THE BOY WHO STEALS HOUSES. Her work has been translated into four languages and she was nominated for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal. She lives in Australia, never sleeps, and believes in cake for breakfast. When not writing, she’s on twitter and instagram as @paperfury to rave about books.

Twitter | Blog | Goodreads

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Jen Wilde (she/they)

Author of Queens of Geek* (2017), The Brightsiders (2018) and Going Off Script (2019)

Jen Wilde writes unapologetically queer stories about geeks, rockstars, and fangirls who smash the patriarchy in their own unique ways. Her books have been praised in Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Autostraddle, Vulture and Bustle.
Originally from Australia, Jen now lives in NYC where she spends her time writing, endlessly scrolling Instagram, and dancing to Harry Styles.

Twitter | Website | Goodreads

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Who are your favourite autistic authors?
Who definitely needs a place in a potential part 2?

Dump all your recommendations in the comments, I always need to add more autistic authors to my TBR!

6 YA Fantasy books by Black Authors available on Scribd | Part 2

Last year during #BlackHistoryMonth I made two lists with books by Black authors that are available on Scribd, a big digital subscription-based library. I had a lot of fun writing those and people still read them today. So, now a year later, yet again Black History Month, new books have come out and deserve to be featured and celebrated aswell! This list will feature YA fantasy books, but I have also have YA contemporary and Adult fiction lists in the making. All lists past and future lists like this will be linked on my Lists & Recommendations page.

While you are here, you can get a 60 days free trial for Scribd using my link; 30 days more than in a regular trial! On top of that, you support me as every referral gives me one free month.

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Wings of Ebony by J. Elle (Wings of Ebony #1)

“Make a way out of no way” is just the way of life for Rue. But when her mother is shot dead on her doorstep, life for her and her younger sister changes forever. Rue’s taken from her neighborhood by the father she never knew, forced to leave her little sister behind, and whisked away to Ghizon-a hidden island of magic wielders. On the anniversary of their mother’s death, Rue breaks Ghizon’s sacred Do Not Leave Law to see her sister, only to discover that Black kids are being forced into crime and violence. And her sister is in danger of falling sway to the very forces that claimed their mother’s life. Worse still, evidence mounts that the evil plaguing East Row is the same one that lurks in Ghizon. Rue must embrace her true identity and wield the full magnitude of her ancestors’ power to save her neighborhood before the gods burn it to the ground.

Scribd | Goodreads

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world’s population. To keep volatile human emotions in check, music, art and books are illegal, to keep volatile human emotions in check, but Ellie still keeps a secret library. When young Ilori commander M0Rr1S finds Ellie’s library, duty-bound to deliver her for execution, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. Humanity’s fate rests in the hands of Ellie and M0Rr15—thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous journey with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

Scribd | Goodreads

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (Legendborn #1)

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus: A flying demon feeding on human energies and a secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.
A mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw, but his failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.
She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

Scribd | Goodreads

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Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown

Echo Brown is a wizard from the East Side, where apartments are small and parents suffer addictions to the white rocks. Yet there is magic . . . everywhere. New portals begin to open when Echo transfers to the rich school on the West Side, and an insightful teacher becomes a pivotal mentor. Each day, Echo travels between two worlds, leaving her brothers, her friends, and a piece of herself behind on the East Side. There are dangers to leaving behind the place that made you. Echo soon realizes there is pain flowing through everyone around her, and a black veil of depression threatens to undo everything she’s worked for.
Heavily autobiographical and infused with magical realism, Black Girl Unlimited fearlessly explores the intersections of poverty, sexual violence, depression, racism, and sexism—all through the arc of a transcendent coming-of-age.

Scribd | Goodreads

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow (A Song Below Water #1)

Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Nevermind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.
But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation; the girls’ favorite Internet fashion icon reveals she’s also a siren, and the news rips through their community. Tensions escalate when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. No secret seems safe anymore – soon Portland won’t be either.

Scribd | Goodreads

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #1)

For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.
But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.
When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

Scribd | Goodreads

10 Book Series I Want To Read | Part 1

Not unlike a lot of other readers, the list of books I want to read is beyond reasonable and that includes an over-ambitious list of series I want to read. But instead of dwelling on numbers, I am going to be excited about it and share it with all of you!
I plan to make this a mini-series, with each part being 10 series long, both completed and ongoing series of atleast two books currently out. First I will make my way through my current list, then just go on with new series that come on my path.

As I know all of you are also always looking for new books to read, I have included extra information about each series: A brief description, whether the series is completed or ongoing, how many books and novellas there are (not including short stories) and links to Goodreads and Scribd if it’s available there.

While we are here, I want to offer you a free 60 day trial of Scribd with my referral link (standard trial is 30 days). It’s both a nice bonus for you and it supports me as I get a free month for every referral.

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Tensorate Series by J.Y. Yang

JY Yang’s Tensorate Series is a lush, vivid silkpunk fantasy series in a world where elementalist mages contend with revolutionary machinists, while dinosaurs battle sky-spanning naga. Either The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven, can be read as the first novella in the series.

One time I was in the Queer Book Crew discord just hanging out in voice chat and one way or the other we were discussing books with non-binary representation and I immediately added this series to my TBR after someone explained that in this book, everyone is treated as gender neutral until they personally make the decision about their pronouns and how they want to identify. I didn’t even realise how cool the rest of the description sounded. I am really glad this is on Scribd, as I heard great things about the audiobooks!

Status: Completed (4 books) | Goodreads | Scribd

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The Bone Witch Trilogy by Rin Chupeco

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community.

I have to fully thank Shealea @ Shut Up, Shealea for hyping up Rin Chupeco and all faer books, but it’s to such a degree that I am actually quite daunted to actually read them. But I really look forward to start reading as I just love stories about witches and necromancy, and this series has both!

Status: Completed (3 books) | Goodreads | Scribd

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The Bone Season Series by Samantha Shannon

Welcome to Scion. No safer place.
The year is 2059. Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant – and under Scion law, she commits treason simply by breathing. Elsewhere, however, there is a seat of power even greater than Scion. And they have a different design for Paige and her uncommon abilities…

I don’t know what exactly attracts me so much to this series, but I just know I will love it and it will be exactly my cup of tea. Maybe it’s the fact that I have a weakspot for dystopian stories, or the fact this is going to be a seven-book-long series, excluding novellas (I love that aswell). I already got my hands on the prequel novella, so I hope to be able to start soon!

Status: Ongoing (currently 4 books, 2 novellas) | Goodreads | Scribd

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Xandri Corelel Series by Kaia Sønderby

In the far future, genetic engineering is used to strip all sapient species of disability. But when humans have a brief fad of natural birth, disabled children start reappearing. They’re quickly termed “Pandoras,” the value of their very lives brought into question, and laws are put into place to prevent their births from happening ever again.

There is so little #OwnVoices autism representation in the world, so I’d like to read as many books with it as I can. On top of that, I really love science fiction and this series combines both points. I already got myself the ebooks in a sale once, but I think I’ll want these on my shelves aswell if I do end up liking them!

Status: Completed (2 books, 1 novella) | Goodreads

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The Gilded Wolves Trilogy by Roshani Chokshi

As the nineteenth century draws to a close, Parisian treasure-hunter Séverin Montagnet-Alarie assembles a team of unlikely allies–teenagers with backgrounds as mysterious and diverse as their talents and motives–to help him obtain powerful objects by any means necessary. The series-opening novel, The Gilded Wolves, follows this band of rogues on a race through Paris in search of an ancient artifact that may help Séverin obtain his rightful inheritance as an heir of the Order of Babel.

This series originally got on my radar because of all the praising reviews and excited tweets from people I follow and I heard that this series is quite queer. THEN I learned that there is an autistic character aswell. Even though it isn’t #OwnVoices, I heard from fellow autistics it was handled well. I just generally think I will really enjoy this series and I look forward to starting it.

Status: Completes in 2021 (3 books) | Goodreads | Scribd

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His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials is set in a multi-world reality, with the action moving from one world to another. The story begins in an alternative world where all humans have animal companions called daemons, which are manifestations of the human soul. The series follows the life of a young girl named Lyra, who discovers a dangerous secret. In her search for a missing friend, Lyra also uncovers a series of kidnappings and its link to a mysterious substance called Dust, which leads her on a journey of epic proportions and ultimately to other worlds. A witches’ prophecy links Lyra’s destiny to Will, a teenager from our world, who is himself being pursued by mysterious figures connected to his father.

The reason I want to read this series is purely for nostalgia reasons. When I was little I watched The Golden Compass movie and I just loved it SO MUCH. But there never came a sequel and nobody around me seemed to have heard of it. At some point, I just thought I imagined it. That is, up until a few years ago when I found out the movie was based on a book series! I was so happy, mostly for the fact that I didn’t imagine things and there is actually a whole fandom out there.

Status: Completed (3 books, 3 novellas) | Goodreads

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Market of Monsters Trilogy by Rebecca Scheaffer

Nita doesn’t murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet—her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they’ve been “acquired.” But when her mom brings home a live specimen, Nita decides she wants out — dissecting living people is a step too far.
But when she tries to save her mother’s victim, she ends up sold on the black market in his place — because Nita herself isn’t exactly “human.” Now Nita is on the other side of the bars, and there is no line she won’t cross to escape and make sure no one can ever sell her again.
Nita did a good deed, and it cost her everything. Now she’s going to do a lot of bad deeds to get it all back.

I have been eyeing this series since before it came out as it seems bloody and dark, and I really like that. But the series originally only came out in hardcover and it was just a bit too pricey for me. Luckily, the series just came to a finish and the paperback of the last book will be out later this year, so I can finally read it! In the meantime, I am reading the first season of the Webtoon adaptation of this book series and it’s REALLY good.

Status: Completed (3 books)| Goodreads | Scribd

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The Poppy War Trilogy by R.F. Kuang

The Poppy War is the first installment in a Chinese-history inspired epic fantasy trilogy about empire, warfare, shamanism, and opium, combining the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating, enthralling effect.

I have been wanting to read more Adult epic fantasy, so I got myself this trilogy, but I am honestly scared to read this as pretty much everyone I know that has read it got their soul crushed and I don’t think I am ready. Really, if you speak of being daunting, you speak of The Poppy War for me. The worst is that I KNOW that I will love it. PFFFF.

Status: Completed (3 books) |Goodreads | Scribd

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Seafire Trilogy by Natalie C. Parker

A heart-stopping trilogy that recalls the undeniable feminine power of Wonder Woman and the powder-keg action of Mad Max: Fury Road, Seafire reminds us of the importance of sisterhood and unity in the face of oppression and tyranny.

Look, what can I say about this book? It’s a whole trilogy about an all-female pirate crew. And it’s dystopian, which is a genre I really like. So feminist pirates in a dystopian setting, I don’t know, it just really lures me in. I am just a sucker for certain things and this series hits a sweetspot.

Status: Completes in 2021 (3 books) | Goodreads

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Monsters of Verity by Victoria Schwab

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music.

The main reason I want to read this duology is because V.E. Schwab is one of my favourite authors and I just want to read every single one of her books. On top of that, this seems like a really fun series aswell. I know it isn’t an extensive reason like with the other series in this posts, but a reason is a reason nonetheless.

Status: Completed (2 books) | Goodreads | Scribd

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We Set the Dark on Fire Duology by Tehlor Kay Mejia

At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run her husband’s household or raise his children, but both wives are promised a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class.

I was supposed to read the first book in this duology with The Lit Coven book club back in 2019, but I didn’t get to it at the time and I haven’t gotten to it since aswell. But I do own the first book and I heard so many good things from my fellow members of The Lit Coven and I feel bummed I didn’t get to join them at the time. So here’s to 2021 being the year I do read it!

Status: Completed (2 books) | Goodreads | Scribd

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I hope to present part two next month or so, as I both don’t want to stack these kinds of posts to closely to eachother and they take forever to draft with all the formatting. But it’s super fun to just be excited and talk about all of these series, really makes me happy to be an avid book reader.

Until then, what book series do you look forward to reading the most? Tell me in the comments!

All Books I Want To Read Before the End of 2020

There are about two and a half months left in this strange year and I am glad for it really. I really need a fresh beginning, because everything is a mess currently and on top of that, it’s predicted we are going to be in a semi-lockdown until December, perhaps longer.
But I want to make the best of what’s left of this year and talk about some titles I want to read before the year is over, to give myself a bit of motivation and to share it with you!
This is going to be a really chill and laidback post, so please: sit back and enjoy, as here are the books I want to read in the last leg of 2020, in no particular order.

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The first book is The Art of Saving The World by Corinne Duyvis, which is my current read. I am reading this for The Ace Race-readathon (about which you can read all about in my TBR post) and it’s also a book by a Dutch autistic author I admire, so I am just going to enjoy this book.

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The second book I am going to read this year is Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkmap, which is a YA horror/thriller kind of book with disabled and (gender)queer protagonists, and the main theme is tabletop-RPG’s. This book just touches on so many things I love and I heard so many good things about it, I cannot wait to read this. Plus, this is also written by a Dutch autistic author which just adds to it!

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I don’t usually read in Dutch, but I am very excited to read Zomerburen by Rianne Robben (”Summer Neighbours”). This book actually means so much to me personally, especially as when I was a kid, there were never books I could relate to or see myself in and Rianne wrote it. This book is taking place in the area I live (usually books take place on the other side of the country) and it’s also super queer and the main character is bi, just like me.

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The next book I plan on reading is Queen of Volts by Amanda Foody. In 2017 I got Amanda’s debut in a Fairyloot box and I have been a fan ever since. It’s incredible to be able to read the last book of her first series, especially knowing that there’s so much more coming in 2021 and after. But The Shadow Game series will always have a special place in my heart.

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I have read and reviewed all other books in the Celestial Creatures, so naturally I am going to read the last installment: Halo by Olga Gibbs. This series has been part of my life for about two years now and to see it end is a thought that makes me emotional. But it also starts the era of Olga Gibbs’ new work and I really look forward to that!

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I want to read Shadows Rising by Madeleine Roux as soon as possible as it’s the direct prequel to the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion and my goal is to read it before that goes live. Blizzard, the company behind WoW, decided to postpone the expansion (It was originally scheduled for October 27th) because so much was just not ready, or working as intended and I think that was the best possible decision. We don’t know what the new release date is going to be, but speculation suggests it will be late November/early December.

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I also plan on reading a few more of Josie Jaffrey’s short stories I got for reviewing purposes. I have got a whole bunch now and they are all so delightful to read. Josie can write amazing full length novels, but she is certainly also super talented in keeping it short. I certainly look forward to reading them!

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In the time period before December 12th I am reading three books for the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award. These are three of the finalists, which you can check out here, and I am very excited to read these and give my feedback. I am not revealing which three titles I have been assigned, to keep up some secrecy, but also I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. I might reveal it after the winners are announced!

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I said yes to being part of the blog tour of Vampires of Moscow by Caedis Knight, so of course I will be reading that soon! It’s the first book in The Blood Web Chronicles series, bonding together the supernatural, romance, and some mystery and journalism. The name ”Caedis Knight” is a pen name for two amazing authors who are co-writing this series: N.J. Simmonds and Jacqueline Silvester. I am super excited for this!

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The last book in this section is my most anticipated read of this year: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab. This book is written by my all-time favourite author and I can’t wait to dive into this story she spent 8 years on writing. I remember seeing (and meeting) her at YALFU 2019, and she spoke so passionately about this book, and I just know it will be a journey.

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I want to invite everyone to write a similar post and feel free to share it here in the comments! Don’t go make an extensive TBR, just take an honest look at your shelves and how many books you can realistically read, nothing more. It’s more of a reminder to yourself than an actual TBR, so don’t go too hard on yourself.

See you in my next post!