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Dark Shelf of Wonders

Delighting in my love of books one review at a time.

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  • Book Reviews - Fantasy - Mystery - The Old Review Dust Off

    The Old Review Dust Off: The Invisible Library

    April 23, 2024 - By Veronica

    Hey Bookworms, how’s your reading going? Before starting my blog, I had been posting my reviews on Instagram for a few years. I’m starting this “The Old Review Dust Off” post series to re-share my reviews of books I think deserve more attention. They are books I love but don’t…

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  • Manners and Monsters
    Book Reviews - Fantasy - Historical Fiction - Indie - Mystery

    Manners and Monsters: A Delightfully Gothic Romp

    March 22, 2024 - By Veronica

    I recently listened to the Manners and Monsters audiobook on Hoopla and It's the subject of today's book review!

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Reading Goals

  • My 2024 Reading Goals
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2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Veros has read 17 books toward their goal of 80 books.
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17 of 80 (21%)
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Veros's bookshelf: currently-reading

The Bane Chronicles
The Bane Chronicles
by Cassandra Clare
tagged: favorites, ya-fiction, short-story-collection, fantasy, and current...
Assassin's Apprentice
Assassin's Apprentice
by Robin Hobb
tagged: currently-reading
World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 1
World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 1
by Blizzard Entertainment
tagged: currently-reading
A Brief History of the Druids
A Brief History of the Druids
by Peter Berresford Ellis
tagged: currently-reading

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Trick or Treat!🎃 As a little treat for Hallow Trick or Treat!🎃 As a little treat for Halloween I'm sharing the mood boards for my Bookish Halloween Themed Playlists that I made on my Dark Shelf of Wonders blog. If you like lists and are interested in themed book recommendations as well as songs that you can add to your Halloween playlists, I recommend you give my blog a looksy 😉 (Link in Bio)!! Playlists feature Werewolves, Vampires, Ghosts, and my newest one Witches! I don't usually talk about my blog posts on here but I'm super proud of these ones so I figure why not share! 👻. If you've been wondering why I haven't been as active on IG with my posts, it's because I've been focusing my creative energies on the blog. I'm not planning on leaving booksta or anything, I love the community here too much 🖤. If you also have a book blog please let me know as I love to find and follow new ones!! Whether you celebrate Halloween or not, I hope you have a wonderful day!
My 5 Top Fives starring my Halloween costume as Ev My 5 Top Fives starring my Halloween costume as Evie (From 1999's The Mummy) but if she had somehow unearthed a lightsaber 😂. I'm pretty pleased that I was able to pull a semi-recognizable costume last minute and I have always wanted to dress like Evie🥹. I've seen this fun meme going around and thought now is my time to join in! I've already done a similar meme in the past 'the comfort challenge' so won't list the same things again (if you're wondering, The Mummy is included in that one). Instead these are my current favs in these categories. 📚Book Series, Fav Installment to represent the whole series -Penric and Desdemona by Lois McMaster Bujold -Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire -Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews -Veronica Speedwell by Deanna Raybourn -Monk & Robot by Becky Chambers 🎶Albums: -This Heathen Land by Green Lung -God Is Dead by Twin Temple -Thornstar by Lord of the Lost -Impera by Ghost -Vaxis Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind by Coheed and Cambria 🎲Board Games: -Wavelength -Wingspan -Bargain Quest -Stonespine Architects -Just One 🎞️Movies: -Nimona -D&D Honor Among Thieves -Wolfwalkers -The Wild Robot -Emma 📺TV shows: -Star Trek TNG -Hazbin Hotel -The Owl House -The Great Canadian Baking Show -Taskmaster What are any of your recent favs in these categories? I'm especially curious about what board games are your favs!
🌹Tale of the Flying Forest by R. M. Romero🎶 🌹Tale of the Flying Forest by R. M. Romero🎶 Thanks to @tbrbeyondtours & @rmromeroauthor for including me in this tour! (Swipe for mini mood boards) After her mother’s death, Anne Applebaum finds solace in the pages of the book of fairy tales her mom gifted her. ‘The World to Come’ tells fantastical stories of the flying forest of Bei Ilai and magic exists. So when a raven tells her she has a missing twin brother called Rainer, she doesn’t doubt him for long. After all, Anne has always felt that something in her life has been missing. As she sets off to find her twin brother, she discovers that Bei Ilai is a real place and that’s where Rainer is— only it’s way more dangerous than in the stories! This was a fun and delightfully whimsical story structured like a classic quest! Our brave protagonist is called into adventure, encounters a series of dangers, and meets magical friends along the way. The first half of the story serves to explore Bei Ilai’s atmosphere and magical creatures as Anne hunts for clues of Rainer’s whereabouts. The story is divided into 7 parts (you see, there is power in the number 7) and while I enjoyed parts 1-3, it wasn’t until the 4th one that I felt the story was truly coming together. Once it did, I was invested and found that Anne and Rainer’s sibling bond was the main strength of this book for me. Both siblings had lost trust in adults in different ways and the devotion, care and support they showed each other was genuinely heartwarming. We also get to meet a lot of creatively delightful side characters along the way such as a fox in a waistcoat, and the Librarian of Songs! I think any reader would find the concept of a Librarian of Songs captivating but I especially appreciated the way music and songs played a huge role in the magic system of this world. Read if you like: •Jewish Folklore • Fairy Tale Retellings • Portal Fantasy & Quest Stories •Less well-known magical creatures (such as the Tatzelwurm & Lindwurms) •Stories About Siblings •Found Family ❓Would you rather meet a talking crow or a fox wearing a waistcoat?
🍃September Wrap-Up🍂 I haven't been very acti 🍃September Wrap-Up🍂 I haven't been very active on here lately so excuse the lateness of my wrap-up. Last month I participated in @book_roast 's Magical Readathon and had so much fun. I read all 8 books from my readathon TBR (plus 2 extra unrelated books) so I am exceedingly happy about how well I did!! The E-Books: 📱The Curse of The Dead Man's Diamond - Christyne Morrell, 4⭐ 📱Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner, 4⭐ 📱Descender, Vol. 1:Tin Stars - Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen (Graphic Novel), 5⭐ The Physical Books: 📚Poyums - Len Pennie, unrated but liked it a lot (Poetry Collection) 📚Masquerade - O. O. Sangoyomi, 4⭐ The Audiobooks: 🎧Secrets to Reveal - Tilly Wallace, narrated by Marian Hussey, 2⭐ 🎧Thornhedge - T. Kingfisher, narrated by Jennifer Blom, 3⭐ 🎧The Art Thief - Michael Finkel, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, 4⭐ 🎧The Pumpkin Spice Café - Laurie Gilmore, narrated by Regina Reagan, 4⭐ 🎧Phoenix Heart, Season 1 Omnibus - Sarah K. L. Wilson, narrated by Elise Hoffman, 4⭐ ❓ What are you currently reading? Or, what's your favorite type of book to read in the fall?
Welcome to my stop of #TheCurseOfTheDeadMansDiamon Welcome to my stop of #TheCurseOfTheDeadMansDiamond tour 👻!! (Swipe to see 8 of my favourite quotes) When twelve-year-old Charlie moves from New York to a small town in Florida, she discovers that her new house is haunted! As she struggles to settle into her new home she hears rumours of a curse. If what the townspeople say is true then the three ghosts in her house—Ada, Arthur, and Guff—are stuck because they stole a dead man’s diamond. And it now lies hidden somewhere in the house. Since Charlie is already sick of Florida (and the school bullies that come with it) she hatches a scheme: If she could only find the diamond they’d have enough money to move back to New York! This middle-grade mystery/fantasy charmed me from the start because it felt like a cross between two of my favourite childhood movies: Casper (1995) and The Rescuers (1977). Okay so the references might be outdated but I promise this book is not! We have a creepy haunted house, ghosts, tales of curses, making friends, and school bullies: all topics that a middle schooler (and even adults) will find engaging or relatable. The story is told in alternating POVs: one for Charlie and one for the three ghosts as we follow them from before they were ghosts! The narrative mixes light moments with heavier story beats as we get to know our characters better. We learn about the ghosts’ tragic past and about Charlie’s grief and feelings of guilt—there’s a touching moment about midway through the book that made me tear up. But don’t worry, the dialogue also made me laugh several times, especially when the town’s medium, Madame Rayna, was on the page. She and Cinco, an Argentinian boy with a wonderful character arc, are my favourite characters! I really appreciate how this book discusses what being a true friend means, especially because it’s aimed at an age group where kids start to put a lot of emphasis on friendship. The bullies in the story are not depicted as black-or-white and while it is clear that there is no excuse for bullying, it’s also equally clear that everyone deserves compassion. I loved that the story made space for people to take ownership of their mistakes and for forgiveness.
New Shelf, Who Dis?💁🏽‍♀️ After so muc New Shelf, Who Dis?💁🏽‍♀️ After so much work, I present to you my new bookshelf! I'm showing the 'After' first because it's much nicer than what we had in that corner before. Scroll to see my pile of books organized by genre on the floor, not surprisingly adult fantasy is my biggest pile! And a little surprisingly, both my historical fiction and non-fiction piles were bigger than I expected. I'm also quite happy with the way my small indie collection is growing 💕 Alas, I meant to count them but I forgot. The third slide shows the old corner, with Cheeto's old crate that he refuses to use anymore. It was high time we used that space more efficiently. And don't worry he has his own bed but still prefers to sleep on the couch😆🐶 The process to get here was not as smooth as I would have liked; securing it to the wall was a nightmare and a half. I had to spackle several botched attempts then fix the paint. But Voilà!!! It contains most of my adult fantasy, with the heaviest books on the bottom (I'm not taking any chances here, friends😜). I also decided to dedicate a shelf to "frog things" and then mass paperbacks at the top🖤 ❓Do you see any favourites or books on your TBR?
THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS by Katy Rose Pool A pr THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS by Katy Rose Pool A prince exiled from his kingdom. A ruthless killer known as the Pale Hand. A once-faithful leader torn between his duty and his heart. A reckless gambler with the power to find anything or anyone. And a dying girl on the verge of giving up. The Age of Darkness is approaching, and each of these individuals holds the potential to save or destroy the world. I buddy read this with @jonesandthebooks & had such a fun time despite not absolutely loving the book. I'll talk about the negatives first so I can end on a happy note 😀. I’m typically a fan of multiple POVs but I didn’t think they were utilized wisely in this case. The book follows one POV for each of its 5 main characters but the main issue is that they change often and at odd times, which only serves to take the wind out of the narrative’s sails. As a result, I’m not very emotionally attached to any of the MCs and I wish the author had kept up the momentum during several impactful moments. Additionally, some of the characters’ plotlines intersect early on in the book and, for me, it’s almost like various POVs are pointless in those instances. This story is marketed as Greco-Roman inspired but I didn’t feel that in the atmosphere. Sure, the map included is of the Mediterranean Sea and some place names, like ‘Pallas Athos’ are Greek. But those nods feel like stickers placed overtop a generic world. In a 400+ page fantasy book, it’s not unreasonable to expect a fully realized setting so I was disappointed. For me, a couple of things saved this book. The first is the delivery of the premise. Not knowing if any one character’s actions would eventually doom or save the world was so fun! I enjoyed partially distrusting everyone because even benevolent-seeming actions could potentially have disastrous consequences. I thought the author played around with the interpretations of the prophecy in a satisfying manner. The second, and biggest, strength of this book is the plot. The betrayals and surprises caught me off guard, and the action in the latter half of the book was extremely exciting! If it weren’t for the plot I may have DNFd. I'll likely continue via audio🤔
🐘 MASQUERADE by O.O. Sangoyomi - ARC Review T 🐘 MASQUERADE by O.O. Sangoyomi - ARC Review Thanks to #Netgalley and Forge Books for the E-ARC, I leave my review voluntarily. Òdòdó spends day after day bent over a burning hot forge with the other women in her blacksmith guild. One day, a mysterious stranger visits their forge in Timbuktu, and shortly after, she finds herself in the middle of the Sahara desert. She’s been abducted, and once she reaches the Capital city of Ṣàngótẹ̀, she learns that the enigmatic stranger was, in fact, the warrior king of Yorùbáland. And he has chosen her to be his wife. Masquerade is set in 15th-century West Africa and that’s what drew me to it; It’s not a setting I’ve read before and it was lush and vibrant. The sense of place was fantastic because every scene was easy to visualize in vivid detail. I loved learning about the òrìṣàs, divine spirits of the Yoruba religion, as well as other cultural beliefs. Sangoyomi’s writing style was lyrical and I enjoyed her turns of phrase. My only issue with it is the repetition of one phrase, which was unnecessary. Masquerade is supposedly a Hades and Persephone retelling, which I can see in certain plot points but if you’re reading it solely for that, I think you'll be unsatisfied. Instead, I think the relationship between Òdòdó and Àrẹ̀mọ (the King) is not so much a romance but rather an exploration of power imbalance and what an all-powerful King thinks love is. Òdòdó is an interesting character; she inspires empathy, annoyance, and even condemnation. However, we don't see believable growth to buy her sudden transformation from uneducated village girl to brilliant military strategist and advisor to the king within one season. That ripped me out of the narrative and I think it could have been handled much better. She constantly made naïve decisions but also solved problems generals could not. 🙄 Masquerade is a Hist Fic and despite being marketed as Fantasy, it contains a dash of magical realism at best. Sangoyomi herself has stated that a Fantasy categorization is wrong b/c the òrìṣàs are part of an active Faith in certain parts of the world. ❓What's a historical fiction with a non-Western setting that you liked?
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