Bookish Goblin Wrapped: September Reading Recap and October TBR

Thank you to Blue Box Press and Jennifer L. Armentrout for the advanced reader copy in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I am numb. Stunned. Overstimulated. Satisfied but also starving? I am at a loss for words but also have too much to say. I’m not sure how that’s even possible.

This book feels so much more mature, darker, and wholly different in tone than the earlier installments. It wasn’t what I expected at all, but in a great way. I couldn’t stop once i got my hands on it. I couldn’t sleep, juggle other books like I normally do. I even woke up early just to finish it. I had to know.

I’ve always been a Kieran girl (still am, Kieran for life etc etc), but this book made me see Casteel in a completely new light. I’ve never been a Casteel stan, BUT HERE WE ARE.

We get answers, yes, but also now I have a lot more questions. The world expands again. It’s loaded. But it worked really well for me, especially if you love deep worldbuilding in long running series.

As a seasoned JLA reader, I got everything I needed from this book! But now I need so much more.

Damn. That ending was… man. I’m unwell, this was so good. I need the next book yesterday!!!

You can find the full review here!

Allow me to start by saying: I WOULD DIE FOR ALEXANDER KINGSLEY.

I’m having a good time. This is a great escapism book. It’s like fairy tale characters from Once Upon a Time found themselves gathered around a water cooler. It’s funny. There’s yearning, witty banter, quests, and a good story.

I am loving Evie as the sunshine being corrupted slowly, literally killing her enemies with kindness, while Trystan is such a yearniest yearner that he’s white-knuckling every surface in sight to stop himself from grabbing at Evie.

HOWEVER… and that’s a big however…
As the captain of the yearning lovers fan club, even I believe there is such a thing as too much yearning. The pining has been going on for so long that the will-they-won’t-they kind of has me fatigued.

I think the majority of this is coming from the series being just a tad too long. There is a lot going on plot-wise. Sentient plants, the Guvre, starlight magic, prophecy, Jellyfish Jones, enchantresses, there are way too many plot lines that aren’t getting deep enough. It’s giving me a bit of whiplash.

I think I would’ve loved to see this book and the second book merged into one, and whatever’s going to happen in Book 4 to be book 3.

Either way, I’m still enjoying this very much, despite the length and some of the exposition being used to move the plot arcs forward.

I’ve wanted us to get to the end of Book 3 for SO LONG, and the time I’ve sunk into this is totally worth it.

Full review here!

Metal Slinger is everything you want from a romantasy. It has a sort of pick me FMC, chosen one, secret heir, sort of an enemies to lovers but in a sea setting. While it does have most of the romantasy elements, it kind of just has that, your average romantasy comfort read.

I liked that it takes place in the sea, and that the main character and the MMC quested together. The magic system isn’t very well thought out, but almost never is with romantasy.

However, I do have a bone to pick with the community. I picked it up because of the very specific thing everyone who’s read this book says. Friends, saying that thing is a thing in this book is a spoiler. Every single one of you said that this book does a thing, and it’s a double-edged sword because I would’ve never picked it up otherwise. But then I spent the entire book thinking about the thing, so it made no impact whatsoever on me. I don’t know how else to say this without spoilering it, but if you know you know.

The thing aside, this was very cute, had your usual enemies-ish to lovers romantasy and I’m deeply excited about what’s going to happen next. I do think the magic system is shallow and it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but the court scheming seems fun enough that I’ll stick with it. Also now that the thing has happened, I kind of have to know, you know.

I adored the side characters, even more so than the main characters. The main characters didn’t do much for me, but I’m curious to see where they go.

The spice is okay, I’d put this at three peppers, although it’s nothing you haven’t read before. That being said, there’s plenty of yearning.

I think it’s a good read, but I beg of you, if you pick this up, look at nothing. Even the so-called “spoiler-free” reviews mildly ruined the book for me.

If you’ve read any of my reviews before, you know this is an Ali Hazelwood stan account. Two Can Play is a short audio exclusive novella set in a ski resort.

It, by definition, checks every box AH delivers so well. He falls first. Very hard. She misunderstands. There is a lot of miscommunication actually. Everyone’s really good at their jobs. There’s a disgusting amount of yearning that no one can stay away from. It’s perfection.

That being said, I am getting a bit fatigued by the Reylo fanfic formula. I like it when AH branches out to other contemporary tropes ahem Problematic Summer Romance age-gap ahem.

Do I recommend this though? Absolutely. It’s a great time, just about four-ish hours, and a delicious little contemporary romance snack.

Do I think it’s worth a full Audible credit? Probably not. It’s very short and the voice acting is kind of eh. Either way, if you love the AH universe and want to burn a credit, this one’s a great pick.