WWW Wednesday (January 20, 2021)

Posted January 20, 2021 by Sammie in #amreading, chat with me, www wednesday / 30 Comments

It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
What would you do to earn a living?
Would you lie about your qualifications?
Would you hunt down a would-be assassin?

Wait, no, that’s not right. We ask these three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

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Zach Lopez vs. the Unicorns of Doom Tiffany Donovan vs. the Poison Werewolves The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue The Midnight Library The Damsel Karma Moon: Ghost Hunter


Zach Lopez vs. the Unicorns of Doom by Justina Ireland
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
I have no idea how many times I’ve shelved this books and just straight up never realized who the author was! I shelved them again this week and was like … wait, I know that name! So of course I had to check them out. I actually really like the premise of this! It’s a small town in the middle of nowhere that has a sinkhole that leads to a place overrun by monsters, and sometimes they spill out into our world. It’s never quite what you expect. You know, like unicorns with shark teeth! The premise was so stinking fun that I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Tiffany Donovan vs. the Poison Werewolves by Justina Ireland
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
I still love the idea of this series (and need to try to get my hands on more of them, since I’ve exhausted the two my library has). This one, though, felt a little more after-school special than the first book did. It’s obviously about teamwork, which is an important message for sure, but I felt beat over the head with it, rather than just being able to enjoy the adventure and having the added bonus of walking away with a life lesson.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
I’m not even sure what to say about this one. It’s Schwab, so yeah, the writing was absolutely gorgeous and lyrical and delivered some hard-hitting, beautiful one-liners. The game of back and forth and give and take between Addie and the antagonist was *chef’s kiss* by the end. I will say that the story is non-linear and told from multiple perspectives, so I sometimes had trouble following along with who and when we were and what was going on, or I sometimes lost threads because we’d be one place and jump to another for several chapters and then resume back where we were. That’s more my ADHD brain than anything, though. I always struggle with that.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
This book broke me over and over again and then built me back up, as Matt Haig books do. I absolutely love Haig’s work due to the fact that it deals with the oftentimes ugly, dark, difficult aspects of humanity. Like depression. Like suicidal ideation. This book is no exception. Yet, Haig has such a message of hope and beauty that wading through the tougher moments always pays off. This is a slower character study of a book, and despite me being the sort to enjoy more action, I absolutely loved it and read it in a day. Really, the only reason it didn’t get five stars is because the pacing felt super wonky in some places. As far as feel-good books go, though, this one delivers a punch.

The Damsel by David Dixon
★★★☆ || Goodreads
This would be a perfect book for anyone who enjoys both thrillers and action spaceship sci-fi. Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of either (though I do enjoy some thrillers from time to time), so I don’t think it landed as well as it could have. Honestly, the entire middle lost me, which was basically one long, extended spaceship fight, which I think people more prone to sci-fi than I am would love. It’s just that when I see read spaceship fights, all I can see in my mind is Star Wars, and those movies put me to sleep within 15 minutes of them starting every time. Don’t know what it is, but hubby’s tested the theory on many occasions and is rather disappointed in me, so don’t worry, he’s got it covered. Anyway, the bro-mance between Snake and his boss is super cute. There’s a teensy romance that was fun but didn’t have much substance. I think where this really gets me is that it’s an entertaining little episode, but it lacks actual world-building and an overarching plot. It works as a small, little episode, but it doesn’t feel like a complete plot/storyline. I did have fun with it, though, and would keep an eye out for more work from this author.

Karma Moon: Ghost Hunter by Melissa Savage
★★★★ || Goodreads
This book is everything. Oh my gosh. Where do I even start? I’m not even sure how I’m going to review this one, because I just loved it, and that makes for such a boring review, doesn’t it? Karma Moon suffers from anxiety, what she calls her “what-ifs,” so as someone who also struggles with anxiety, she was super freaking relatable. I found myself laughing out loud and having to share with hubby (who rolled his eyes, because he knows, he lives with me). For someone who doesn’t know what anxiety is like, though, I can see some of it being perhaps frustrating or annoying (like the things Karma does when she starts freaking out, like counting to four, etc.). Definitely intend to check out more of this author’s work.

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I’ve been keeping up with the group read for A Pinch of Magic, so I’m right around page 200 and looking to dive more into this week’s chunk. I’m absolutely loving it so far! It’s whimsical and fun, with a darker undertone that I’m also enjoying. The youngest girl, Charlie, is absolutely a treasure and my favorite so far, because she’s young and adorable and just doesn’t know any better.

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry

The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner
Status: 56%

Hard-drinking petty thief Dellaria Wells is down on her luck in the city of Leiscourt—again. Then she sees a want ad for a female bodyguard, and she fast-talks her way into the high-paying job. Along with a team of other women, she’s meant to protect a rich young lady from mysterious assassins.

At first Delly thinks the danger is exaggerated, but a series of attacks shows there’s much to fear. Then she begins to fall for Winn, one of the other bodyguards, and the women team up against a mysterious, magical foe who seems to have allies everywhere.

As someone who doesn’t read a lot of historical fiction to start with, getting used to the pseudo-old timey dialogue took some getting used to. Once I was over that hurdle, though, I fell headlong into this story and have just loved it ever since. Delly is cynical and sarcastic, a true gutter rat who’s just looking to rise above her station however she can. There’s some real squad vibes going on here, though, once she meets the other body guards and the action starts. I’ve found myself laughing through this whole thing. It’s a very dry, tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic sort of humor, though, so if you don’t like that, you’re going to hate this book. Fair warning.

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    Max and the Midknights     Max and the Midknights: Battle of the Bodkins     Dragons in a Bag     Dragon Thief     Dead of Winter


I’ve got some blog tours coming up again (seems like that’s always the case, isn’t it?) so I need to get ahead on some reading!

I’ve already grabbed my library’s copy of Max and the Midknights so that I can read that in preparation to then read Max and the Midknights: Battle of the Bodkins, both of which look super cute. Plus, I’ve been hitting it out of the park lately with funny reads, so why break that streak? I’ve got a good thing going.

In the same vein, I need to read Dragons in a Bag, which I’ve already got on hand, so I can go ahead and read Dragon Thief when I get my blog tour copy. Honestly, this series sounds perfect for me, and I’ve been meaning to pick up the first book for a while now, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

And to round out this (extremely ambitious) list, I’ve also got a blog tour for Dead of Winter coming up, and I’m super excited to pick it up! First, I love me some chilling tales. Always sign me up for that. Second, I just finished Sam Hooker’s Terribly Serious Darkness series and loved it, so when I saw his name, I immediately jumped on that.

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Stay Fierce, Sammie

30 responses to “WWW Wednesday (January 20, 2021)

    • Ooooh, that was your first? You should definitely check out How to Stop Time! I really enjoyed that one, too, and that was my first Haig. :3

    • It may not be for you. Not every book is, and it’s definitely a slower, character-driven, slice-of-life type read. I like those as a nice change of pace to my stabby, stabby, mcmurderson books. xD

    • Oh my gosh, Nicole! That would be a FANTASTIC mash-up, and now you should totally write it. xD Off with you. 😛

      You should definitely check out The Ruthless Lady’s Guide. I need to finish it, but I’m putting it off because I don’t want it to eeeeend!

  1. I just got Invisible Life of Addie LaRue from the library yesterday. Can’t wait to read it. Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much ❤️

  2. I really hope to read Addie soon but even though I love Schwab, I feel like I have to really be in the right mood to read it. I also can’t wait to give The Midnight Library a read because I need to read more Haig! Sounds like it’s gonna be one heckuva tough read but so worth it in the end! ❤️ You’re also making me even more curious about your current read. I do love tongue in cheek dry humour so this does sound up my alley! Happy reading, Sammie. Hope you have a fab week ahead!
    Dini @ dinipandareads recently posted…#WWWWednesday: 20 JanuaryMy Profile

    • I get you. I think Schwab’s YA/adult books are really a mood. Not so much for the MG to me.

      If you can hang through the really depressing, feel-shattering beginning of The Midnight Library, the payoff is soooo worth it. I mean, the plot is pretty predictable, but there’s something just warm and fuzzy about that lol.

  3. I’m really excited to read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Midnight Library; I loved reading your thoughts on them. Happy reading!

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