Hello fellow boozie readers!

We get two weeks of update this week cause we were all too damn exhausted to write a wrap up after BookCon! We’ll be doing a BookCon wrap up post soon.

Sam’s Update:

BookCon was so much fun!! Spending the week with my mom, reading some books, and then Parker showed up early and we got to boozin alllll day ehry day. Phew I was tired. This week was super duper tiring with work, but all good things.

What Sam finished this week:

• Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff: This took me forever to get through. I was interested in the beginning, but the middle was so damn slow. I also predicted both big reveals so… This was kind of a let down for me cause I’ve loved everything else I’ve read by Kristoff. I think this will make an interesting drunk review.
• Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen: This is the finale to the Nyxia Triad and I LOVED it. It was very very stressful, but I think this was a strong conclusion to the series.

What Sam’s reading now:

• The Wicked King by Holly Black: Literally just started it today. We’ve started 5 months after the last book and I have no idea where it’s going yet.
• Kingsbane by Claire Legrand: Yes I’m still reading this. I think the reason I haven’t gotten further is cause I want to savor it. But I have so many other books I have to read… so I’ll get through it this week.

Ginny’s Update:

(Editor’s Note…. So. Many. Books.)

Currently Reading:

• The Simoquin Prohecies by Samit Basu: It’s a book club book. Definitely a satire for the fantasy genre with an Eastern Flair. Im’ gonna be honest, I’m more than halfway through but I’m not sure I have the ability to summarize this now.
• I Love You so Mochi by Sarah Kuhn: I’m like six pages in but it seems like a pretty basic teenager learns how to be herself? I’ve read other books by Sarah Kuhn and was excited to grab this at Bookcon (though I’m going to be honest, I’m not sure I was the one who grabbed it, thanks Sam!)
• A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole: So first off, I met Alyssa Cole and freaked out at her. She was kind and amazing and excited to see my excitement (though I might be reading into that). I’ve been waiting for this book for a while. I’m so excited to read this story, Johan has been a tantalizing character for a long time (apparently I’m a sucker for a playboy with a heart of gold), and Nya was immediately the kind of character I knew I was going to enjoy reading.

What I Finished:

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• Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers: This ended up being pretty fun. The political machinations moved fairly quickly, although this definitely ran into using foreshadowing a little too heavily. I did write a review so I don’t want to go overboard here.
• Ocean Light by Nalini Singh: This is the second book in this series (within the larger series) and focused on one of the best characters from the prior book. We get to see the human leader survive his assassination attempt and meet a new lady friend in a changeling habitat hidden under the ocean. I thought that some of the emotional development was skipped. Partially, I’m not a big fan of the insta-love/insta-lust kind of story and this felt a little too heavily based in that. Still great book with a mystery that kept me guessing. 4/5.
• The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware: I wrote a review and boy is it a doozy. Not sure I want to give away too much here.  Hal receives a note that she is inheriting from an unknown Grandmother. She’s in a financial bind so she goes and stays in a creepy house with unknown family members even though she thinks she was mistakenly contacted.
• Broken Resolutions by Olivia Dade: This author has a new book coming out that’s been showing up from a lot of authors I really like. This was a novella and I think it suffered for that. yet again, not the biggest fan of insta-love which this book definitely used. I think if the plot had had a chance to not just happen over the course of like 12 hours I could have actually enjoyed this book.  3/5
• We Speak In Storms  by Natalie Lund: Welcome to the first of the bookcon books. I’m planning on reviewing this, but there’s a touch of magical realism that I really enjoyed. Small town in middle-of-nowhere America has a tornado land 50 years to the day after a tornado that killed almost an entire generation. The modern day kids start seeing specters of the people from the first tornado. 4/5
• Recursion by Blake Crouch: I already did a review for this!
• Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo: Sam oh so kindly requested this book from me from Edelweiss. Although really it’s a graphic novel. I really enjoyed seeing a hint of Raven’s past. This really was a quick book and was beautifully designed 4/5
• The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez: This is another Bookcon book. And boy do I have OPINIONS!!!! There’s going to be a review but this book had a really good thing and a number of things that drive me up a goddamn wall!

DNF:

• Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym M. Martineau: After bookcon it was kind of hared to keep reading a book I was feeling so-so about when I had so many new books to keep me company. I wasn’t a big fan of the character types and the way the tropes were being handled. I liked the world but found myself frustrated enough to DNF.

Minda’s Update:

What Minda finished:

• She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore – This book had a lot going on but I was here for it! Magical realism retelling of Liberia founding, which I didn’t know much about prior but glad I do now. Review to come.

What Minda is reading now:

• Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly – Reading on audio. Liking it so far.
• Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman – This book takes the California drought a step further—the tap has run dry. Follows a teen as she makes life-and-death decisions to survive. Sounds enticing!

Linz’s Update:

I think I’ve recovered from BookCon? I spent the whole week cleaning the house because life, sooooo

What Linz read (is a short list):

• The Simoqin Prophecies by Samit Basu: This was a book club pick and I’m refusing to comment on it until we get to book club (but if anyone has a recipe for dragonjuice, I’d love it, k thx byeee).

What Linz is reading:

This is literally the worst because I have all these shiny new ARCs, but I’m trying to stay faithful to my TBR, so I compromised:

• Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa: This is the soon-to-be-released sequel to Shadow of the Fox, which I did not get at BookCon but through the kind people at NetGalley. I tried to start reading this while reading Simoqin Prophecies and it was what the kids refer to as a “bad call.” It’s stupid hard keeping two mythical, Asian-based fantasy worlds straight.
• Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly: O hai shiny new toy. This period piece follows Cinderella’s stepsisters after Cinderella is swept away by the prince, the last chance the stepsisters had at saving their financially drained family and getting out.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Melinda, Linz, and Ginny