"Everything you think you know about love is wrong ... It always falls apart, like everything, like the whole damn universe will if you leave it spinning for long enough."

GENRE: Fantasy
RATING: 4/5
FORMAT: eBook + Physical Arc

Overall Impression: The Apple and the Pearl is a magical tale that focuses on all the characters in a ballet spanning their lives over one day and this is more of a mixture of magical realism x poetical fantasy that I thought was done in a lovely manner

Review:
The Apple and the Pearl is a tale that takes you through multiple character's point of views. It weaves their stories together and brings the magical element on the All Souls Day that we get to see through all their eyes.

I quite enjoyed this and I think Rym Kechacha did a beautiful work of intertwining all the character's lives together in a way that shows the impact of the magic, the darkness and really, life and all the struggles we deal with. While you do see the point of view from so many different characters, the story comes together in a way that lets them stand out uniquely but ties them together in that they are obliged to complete their pledges in the magical train and complete the show.

I think this one is perfect for a few different people, like those who enjoy Ballet, magical realism and beautiful lyrical prose. I enjoyed it for so many reasons, including the fact that it ponders and questions why we are the way we are and the sacrifices we are willing to make in order to get what we want. Not only that, it questions why we create art and why we continue to dedicate time, energy and effort especially when the audience in The Apple and the Pearl are not your typical ones, those that truly appreciate the beauty of your show.

I did want a little more though as there were sections that combined multiple characters and joined it from a POV of multiple casts. I felt we could have added a bit more connection and bringing them together to deliver the themes and message home. All in all, this is a beautiful, lyrical and atmospheric book that shows why we continue to make art and how that differs between each individual in here.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the Arc copy!

"By the time the city pulls away, houses replaced by stretches of bright grass, well-manicured trees, a widening road, I've stopped trying to place myself in Niawa the story. I don't belong here anymore."

GENRE: Fantasy
RATING: 4.5/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc

Overall Impression: At the heart of it, A Day of Breath is Fantasy story that explores what it is like to have faith in a system vs to never believe in it and question it through an adventure of our MCs. This debut is done in a good way, combining conspiracies and relying on a system while navigating through your own personal life

Review:
A Day of Breath is a fast-paced story, that starts a bit before Day of Breath and ultimately focuses on a span of one day and how the lives of our MC changes over time. Oly, our Champion, is crowned and sent to live on the Edge so that she can protect the kingdom from the demons that come through a rift between the realms. She also experiences Anxiety and we go through it with her, see her thoughts and how she faces life as the longest standing Champion as well.

We also have Heir Fallon, one of the heirs, who we meet early on and is entirely satisfied with the system in place. He sees Oly become a Champion and then we start his adventure with the fact that he wasn't the chosen next ruler for the throne. Heir Fallon is a complicated character, one that you can see is entirely relying on the system. He fails to question why things are the way they are and is satisfied with his life as it is. Throughout the story, we see character development and see him change as he learns so many new things.

We do get to meet other MCs as well but ultimately A Day of Breath is a story about what happens when we question the system vs when we never question it and accept what we are told as facts. It is a test to see if humanity in the book can survive having their world shaken and they are left with nothing that they used to believe in. It questions whether those who rule are willing to put the community and their people first and foremost, no matter what. And finally, it questions is it worth saving what we have built and fix it or should we start from scratch?

A Day of Breath is going on my Fantasy Books list that I keep and call "Burn it all down" because ultimately it is about questioning the system you put your faith in and never fearing to do so. I really enjoyed the pacing of the book and the exploration of the characters, their own personal lives and how they fit into the bigger picture and the system itself.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the Arc copy!

"It was strange, she thought, that a person could look so lost in their own home."

GENRE: YA Fantasy with Egyptian Mythology by a SWANA Author
RATING: 4.5/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc

Overall Impression: Ungodly Chaos truly lives up to the name, from chaotic adventures to being chaotic teenagers living in a chaotic world and I really enjoyed every moment of it!

Review:
Ungodly Chaos is a YA Fantasy that is set in our world and the underworld, or Duat, is a perfect balance of adventure and understanding who the MCs are as a YA book. I think the adventure was a fun, fast paced story that kept me hooked till the end of it and I wanted to see what would happen next.

We get to meet Amira and the story is mainly told from her POV but we also get a few chapters from other MCs like Kaiden, Zain and Layla (which I always enjoy as we get to see a different POV from the characters). I loved getting to know more about the different descendants described in the story, though I do wish we got more details on this.

I also really enjoyed the exploration of identity and where we fit in. As teenagers (whether you're early, mid or late teenager), fitting is and finding your place in the world is HARD. We get to see this perspective through Kaiden and Amira, who are both struggling to fit in differently. Kaiden, who has parents from different background (won't share more so as to not spoil anything), struggles with this and it comes across through the story really well. Amira, who has never really fit in anywhere, finds her own place as they go through their adventure together.

I think as a story, this dives into adventure and action while still keeping it realistic for the ages of the MCs, with their focus spread across so many things mentally. We get adventure and some Egyptian Mythology unique to the story. I can't wait to read more from the author, Selma Soren, in the future!

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the Arc copy!

"A Cat is the Soul of a House."

GENRE: Cozy Fantasy
RATING: 5/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc

Overall Impression: I'd give this more than 5 stars if I could, Heather Fawcett never fails to disappoint me and Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter was no exception to this!

Review:
WHAT A BOOK! This is a beautiful Cozy Fantasy that talks about finding joy and love in having a cat shelter (as you would expect from the title) and dives into grief, relationships and building a cat shelter in the middle of mayhem!

I loved everything about the story truly. I loved how we get to meet Agnes and see her interact with all the cats, how she treats them and how she has her own cats as well in addition to the strays she puts up for adoption. I love how we also get to see the personality of each of the cat that we meet throughout the story. I also love seeing the sisterhood between Agnes and Eloise and how their dynamic is a fun way to shed light at how supportive they are to each other.

I also love how ultimately, this is a story of giving people a chance and hoping they show you the best side of them. Agnes gets told that she always sees the best in people and this is discussed throughout the story, how she believes that and only sees the good in people. This how we get to see the situation between Agnes and Havelock evolve and read about their adventure. Agnes believes that the good in people eventually wins out and we see this in the way she interacts with people in the story.

And another aspect I loved is the grief that is mentioned throughout the story because Agnes lost her husband, Robin. I think this played a lovely part in the story, and it shows how our love for someone stays, no matter where we are or how we have to move on for grief is often thought to be love that has no place/person to go to anymore.

Also not Agnes saying she cries as easily as she blushes because same honestly LOL. All in all, this was a fun read AHH, Emily Wilde is one of my favourite series (I've read book 1 and 2) and I knew that the writing and whimsy of Heather Fawcett was going to carry over in here (and it did). I can't wait for more Cozy, Whimsical reads from the author.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the Arc copy!

What a beautiful Anthology, filled with collections of stories from Palestinians that have been experiencing Genocide and sharing their experience. It is stories that will break your heart. It shows how different people are experiencing the same Genocide, how varied their experiences are. It shows Palestinians resilience against the oppression and how some of them are holding on to the things that they love, like Coffee.

In the very beginning, Susan Abulhawa writes an introduction of each of the writers, what she encountered of their will and what made them write their story. I enjoyed reading the introduction to every author before starting their story in English and Arabic.

This Anthology is bilingual, with both Arabic and the translated version in English included and I enjoyed reading both of them, comparing the language and the way it was translated. It was interesting to see the choices of the words, how the message conveyed can be achieved in so many different ways.

I think this is a story that everyone should read, hear the words from different people who experienced the genocide first handed and how it changed their lives. Thank you to Susan Abulhawa and the entire team that made this anthology possible. Thank you for carrying the words and stories of Palestinians in the ground, for sharing their words with us and thank you for letting me read an eArc through Netgalley.

"I've always seen you in my future. That every time I imagine what's to come, it's you I see. If soulmates are real, you must be mine."

GENRE: Romance
RATING: 4.75/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc
Tropes: Childhood Best Friends to Lovers, Fake Wedding, Everyone knows but them

Overall Impression: There is something about friends to lovers that always gets my heart and this was no exception🥺

Review:
The Score was filled with yearning, one that has built over the years between Pen and Bear. It focuses on this push between wanting to preserve the friendship or taking the risks and discovering their feelings and entering a relationship. I was rooting for both Pen and Bear, who both had my heart from the start of the book to the end of it.

I love friends to lovers, whether it starts as adults or it's a childhood friendship to lovers and I think The Score brought a lot of depth into this trope by exploring the fear and how shifting from one to the other will change their relationship. This is done throughout the story in the best of ways and in a way that just makes both Pen and Bear think about themselves and allows them to grow (as a person and together, as they start to accept their feelings for each other)

AND THE YEARNING!!! The way Bear just yearned, oh my god. Like you could tell this is very much "everyone knows but them" because it is so obviously Bear yearns for Pen and Pen loves Bear but doesn't let herself show it AND YOU JUST WANT TO YELL AT THEM TO GET TOGETHER (in the nicest of ways obviously)

Essentially, this is a story of accepting risks and embracing who you are so that you can accept what you deserve. Pen struggles with this because she had a lot of bad experience that caused her to give up on love and honestly? I see why and I'm just glad she had Bear to help and support her. The entire story of getting to meet her family, seeing them accept Bear and going through the journey of Pen's dad and his health scare was emotional and wholesome. It showed that Pen and Bear had their own community and family (in Bear's case, it's Pen's family that are were always there as well)

I am so excited to read more of Leonor Soliz's work and I cant wait to read about the friend groups we met in this book as I just started here with The Score and I definitely cannot wait for more!

Thank you to the Author and Netgalley for the Arc copy! 

“I’m well aware that I’m … too much. You think you’re annoyed—imagine how I feel. I have to live with me and all my flaws every day.”

GENRE: Cozy YA Romantasy
RATING: 5/5 (would give it more if I could)
FORMAT: eBook Arc

Overall Impression: WHAT A BOOK!!!! Seriously, what a book ahhhh because guys this was a beautiful, whimsical Cozy YA Romantasy that discusses SO many important topics (Bipolar Rep and Mental health, Inequalities...etc.) while having so much whimsy! It is done so well and what I look for in Cozy Fantasy/Romantasy books

Review:
Guys, WHAT A BOOK OH MY GOD, like I repeat: WHAT A BOOK!

Okay, let’s get into it: I love Cozy Fantasy and Cozy Romantasy and this is literally what I look for in both (sub)genre. Until the Clock Strikes Midnight is a book that focuses on whimsical, lovely and magical moments filled with Glitter Magic while diving into topics like Inequalities, Mental Health (there’s a bipolar rep), negative spirals and so much more. The way the topics are handled is done with so much care and I teared up twice, which rarely ever happens with any form of media

This book is a beautiful journey that follows two POV (Darling and Calamity), who compete to change the destiny of our bookseller (Lucy). There are a few types of Endings in here: Happily Ever After, Ordinary Ever After and Unhappily Ever After and Celestials/Misfortunes (plus one Fairy, Darling) help guide Humans to achieve one of them essentially! This leads to a lot of discussion regarding whether humans deserve a chance at happiness and that not all of them start out on the same footing. I loved the way we get to explore this theme in the book, how it leads to so many important discussions between Darling and Calamity and how it connects back to the magical system in the book itself.

And the dynamic between Darling and Calam? AHHH, I loved their interactions! I think they are more of what we call “expected” to be enemies/rivals turned into lovers. I really enjoyed their interactions, how they both grow and learn about each other in different ways as well. Also, the fact that Darling’s name is, well, Darling just gives us so many cute opportunities throughout the book with cute nicknames AHH

And Darling being a rep for Bipolar? My god, this topic/theme/rep broke my heart and healed me in so many ways. Darling has always grown up feeling like she was too much, that she was too glittery, colourful...etc. and we get to see a few negative spirals and her doubting herself and her place in the world. As someone who heavily relates to this, the quote I picked in the beginning of the review just shows how heavily we live with the things people tell us and we watch how Darling has to slowly realise that she isn’t too much and that it’s okay to feel like she is sometimes because of what she has been told.

I cannot wait to read more of the author’s backlog and any future books! I’ll be yelling about this book everywhere possible essentially as it is now a top favourite/top cozy fantasy book in my list. Thank you to the Author, Publisher, Colored Pages Book Tour and Netgalley for the Arc copy!