April 2020 – Page 3 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2)

Title: Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2)
Author: Emily A. Duncan
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 7, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Darkness never works alone…
Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who–and what–he’s become.
As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. They’re pieces on a board, being orchestrated by someone… or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer.

Review:

In this sequel to Wicked Saints, the characters head off on a journey into darkness again. Nadya has something wrong with her powers, Serefin hears a mysterious voice in his head, and Malachiasz has turned to the dark side. They have to travel across the country to find their gods.

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, I was hooked. This book was just as dark and gruesome as the first book. It’s a unique fantasy world. The demon creatures are described in such detail that I felt like they were real. There were also many injuries and a lot of blood.

I can’t say much without giving away spoilers. Many of these characters were fighting, yet they had to work together. They didn’t like each other all the time, but they saved each other’s lives. That made for some strange situations, since they didn’t necessarily like each other yet they had to work together against a common enemy. There were also some new characters and new relationships mixed into their group.

This book had an exciting end. I have no idea what will happen next!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Other Books in the Series:

Wicked Saints

Have you read Ruthless Gods? What did you think of it?

Top Ten Tuesday – Titles That Would Make Good Band Names

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Titles That Would Make Good Band Names. Here’s my list:

1. The Deck of Omens (The Devouring Gray #2) by Christine Lynn Herman

2. Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell and Katie Cotugno

3. The Vanishing Deep by Astrid Scholte

4. Doctor Sleep (The Shining #2) by Stephen King

5. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

6. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

7. The Raven Boys (The Raven Boys #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

8. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

9. Paper Towns by John Green

10. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo

(All photos taken from Goodreads)

What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?

Happy Pub Day – April 21

Happy Pub day to all of these new books!

Rival Magic by Deva Fagan

Eat, and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo

The Business of Lovers by Eric Jerome Dickey

The Closer You Get by Mary Torjussen

Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen

The Deck of Omens (The Devouring Gray #2) by Christine Lynn Herman

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

What books are you most excited for this week?

Review: Eat, and Love Yourself

Title: Eat, and Love Yourself
Author: Sweeney Boo, Lilian Klepakowsky
Genre: Graphic Novel, Contemporary
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 21, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A story about Mindy, a woman living with an eating disorder who has to learn how to love herself again.
In pursuit of the perfect body, Mindy buys the low-fat diet products and the glossy magazines which promise the secret to losing weight. One night, while perusing the aisles of the neighborhood convenience store for a midnight snack, she finds a new product. A chocolate bar called “Eat and Love Yourself”. On a whim, Mindy buys the curious candy, not knowing that with every piece of chocolate she eats, she will be brought back to a specific moment of her past — helping her to look at herself honestly, learn to love her body the way it is, and accepting love. Perhaps, she will even realize that her long lost high school best friend, Elliot, was more than just a friend…

Review:

Mindy has an eating disorder and depression. She struggles with going out with her friends and dealing with family. She discovers a new chocolate bar called “Eat and Love Yourself.” It is supposed to bring back childhood memories of eating chocolate. When Mindy tries it, she has flashbacks to pivotal moments in her life when she developed her negative body image and her eating disorder. Now, Mindy can see how her eating disorder has affected her throughout her life.

This graphic novel shows what it’s like to have an eating disorder. Even though Mindy may not have realized at the time, there were some moments in her childhood that influenced her eating disorder. There were comments by her parents and classmates about her weight that formed her body image.

Mindy was constantly given mixed signals, which also influenced her negative body image. Her parents wanted her to eat with them, but if she ate too much, they would tell her she would get fat. Her friends wanted her to get a boyfriend, but told her to watch what she ate when she started dating a boy. There are so many mixed signals that girls are given, which can contribute to a complicated image of yourself.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel.

Thank you BOOM! Box for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – April 20

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

This weekend I finished Eat, and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (The Rajes #1) by Sonali Dev.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – April 19

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

Truths I Never Told You ★★★★★
Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle and Whisper ★★★★
What I Like About You ★★★★★
Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 1 ★★★★
The Queen of Paris: A Novel of Coco Chanel ★★★★
Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1) ★★★★★

I did 8 weekly blogging memes:

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays in Bed With… Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2)

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I’m reading Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Darkness never works alone…
Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who–and what–he’s become.
As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. They’re pieces on a board, being orchestrated by someone… or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer.

What book are you in bed with today?

Six for Sunday – Books I Predict Will Be 5 Stars

This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.

This week’s prompt is Books I Predict Will Be 5 Stars. Here’s my list:

1. My Summer of Love and Misfortune by Lindsay Wong

2. Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon

3. The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda

4. Evil Thing (Villains #7) by Serena Valentino

5. She’s Faking It by Kristin Rockaway

6. 10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon

(All book cover images from Goodreads)

Did you make a Six for Sunday list?

Review: Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1)

Title: Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1)
Author: Talia Hibbert
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Avon
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: November 5, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
• Enjoy a drunken night out.
• Ride a motorcycle.
• Go camping.
• Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
• Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
• And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…

Review:

After almost dying by narrowly missing being hit by a car, Chloe Brown decides to make a list of things she wants to do to help her “get a life.” She lives with a chronic, invisible disability, so she has lived life on the safe side. When she meets the handyman of her new apartment, Redford Morgan, they instantly can’t stand each other. That lasts until Chloe realizes that Redford can help check off things on her list, starting with “ride a motorcycle.” This leads to a steamy romance, where they both have to put their past negative experiences behind them.

Chloe lives with the chronic pain of fibromyalgia. It’s an invisible disability because no one can physically see her pain. Even her doctors and friends didn’t believe she was really suffering, because there wasn’t any proof of her pain other than her word. I liked that the negative sides of this chronic illness were shown, when Chloe couldn’t do things for herself and had to rest. That meant sometimes she didn’t even eat. This story didn’t sugarcoat the illness, by showing Chloe while she was suffering and when she got some occasional relief.

This was a steamy romance. It followed the romance trope of “enemies to lovers,” since Red and Chloe couldn’t stand each other at first but that changed once they got to know each other. Red and Chloe’s relationship took off quickly. It was a whirlwind.

The next book in the series is about Chloe’s sister, Dani Brown, who seemed like quite a character in this book. I’m excited to read it soon.