It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
What if your estranged brother called you for help?
Would you come to his aid?
Would you risk your life to save his?

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.

Max and the Midknights by Lincoln Peirce
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
This was a super fun graphic novel, mixed with a few short paragraphs, so it’s kind of the best of both worlds! It’s got a female lead who’s breaking all sorts of stereotypes in the world in going after her dream of being a knight, and I enjoyed following her adventure!

Battle of the Bodkins by Lincoln Peirce
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
This is the sequel to Max and the Midknights, and I like that it keeps the adventure and the humor and the questioning the status quo. I also really liked that all of the young characters are going through a bit of a crisis in realizing that they’re not quite as sure about their future as they’d thought they were, and they’re realizing that sometimes things aren’t easy or as clear-cut as they expected. I just loved the really healthy dialogues arising out of this book!

Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
This was a fun read. I mean, you had to know I had to check it out because dragons, right? It’s something that I’d recommend for younger middle grade readers, the ones that are just moving up. It’s a pretty simple, straightforward quest plot with some magic. A bit of fun, all in all, but nothing that I think will particularly stick with me.

Dragon Thief by Zetta Elliott (Review will be posted 1/28)
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
I thought this was fun, but didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book, unfortunately. This plot hinged heavily on miscommunication, and that’s just not my favorite plot point. This story legit wouldn’t exist if the adults in the beginning just acted like adults, which frustrated me. Other than that, though, I enjoyed that this expands on the magic and brought more characters in. It also touched on some more diverse perspectives, which was fun to see.

The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter by Aaron Reynolds
★★★★★ || Goodreads
This book was SO FREAKING GOOD. I laughed incredibly hard through the whole thing. Rex Dexter is far too relatable as a character. I can almost guarantee he has ADHD, based on the fact that he reminded me very much of a young me (especially the way things he did/said made perfect sense in his mind but everyone around him failed to make the obviously logical connections … silly people). I can’t even express how much I loved this. There’s a sequel coming out this year called Narwhal I’m Around, and I’m so ready for it!

The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C. M. Waggoner
★★★★★ || Goodreads
I’m not even sure what to say about this. Read it? Why aren’t more people talking about this book?! If you like historical fiction and you like fantasy, this will be perfect for you. It marries the two together fabulously with a fantasy world modeled after our world but with magic. And necromancy. And an adorable not-rodent that may or may not be alive. Delly is a fantastic protagonist, as sarcastic and cynical as she is. There’s definitely a squad feel going on here, but don’t expect there to be a lot of warm-fuzzies in this squad. I loved the fact that the squad felt more realistic, and I loved each character as an individual, so I loved them all the more when they decided to work together.

Dead of Winter (Anthology) (Review will be posted 2/2)
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
Ahhhh … anthologies. I have a love/hate relationship with them, because they’re always hit and miss. This one really wasn’t an exception. I did enjoy the majority of the short stories in this, though, and even the ones I didn’t particularly love, it was because I just didn’t see the point of the story or didn’t care for the plot and had nothing to do with the writing. Actually, I’m pretty impressed by the selection of authors in this anthology, because they’re all clearly talented! Also, these stories were gloriously dark and creepy, which is exactly what I wanted (being the picky mood reader I am), so this really delivered on that!

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
This was a super cute read! The magic is charming, and the sister bonds are adorable. Of the three, Charlie was definitely my favorite, because she was still in that fun, young age where she says exactly whatever pops into her mind with no regard for anything at all. The story was fun, if not a bit predictable. It’s got a sequel that I think I’ll check out, and book three comes out this year. It sounds like there’s still some magicky goodness to be had in this series!

White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton
Status: pg 100/320

Guthrie was a good place to be from, but it wasn’t a great place to live, not when you were like Adam, in all the ways Adam was like Adam.

Adam Binder hasn’t spoken to his brother in years, not since Bobby had him committed to a psych ward for hearing voices. When a murderous spirit possesses Bobby’s wife and disrupts the perfect life he’s built away from Oklahoma, he’s forced to ask for his little brother’s help. Adam is happy to escape the trailer park and get the chance to say I told you so, but he arrives in Denver to find the local magicians dead.

It isn’t long before Adam is the spirit’s next target. To survive the confrontation, he’ll have to risk bargaining with powers he’d rather avoid, including his first love, the elf who broke his heart.

The Binder brothers don’t realize that they’re unwitting pawns in a game played by immortals. Death herself wants the spirit’s head, and she’s willing to destroy their family to reap it.

This was pitched to me as Supernatural meets Dresden Files, and while I’ve never read the latter, it seems to be an apt comparison! There’s for sure a Supernatural feel, though without the brotherly connections, which is a bummer. Can I punch Robert? He doesn’t even deserve to be called Bobby at this point.

I’m definitely loving this already, though! The paranormal aspect is really interesting, and I’m so curious to find out what’s going on. I was sucked in almost immediately, and I’m really enjoying Adam as a narrator.

---

Death Warden by C. J. Stilling
Status: 12%

A teenage assassin. An impossible choice. The fate of everything hangs in the balance…

Sixteen-year-old Reen swore she’d never take another life. Divinely selected to assassinate a few in order to save many, she learned to jump from shadow to shadow and claim her victims without question… until she was ordered to kill the boy she loved. But when an ancient plague returns threatening to infect everyone she knows, she is forced to resume her deadly duties.

Battling a disease that turns people into nightmarish monsters, Reen must track down and terminate those responsible before the city falls, and the evil spreads beyond its borders. But the closer she gets to the source, the more she uncovers sinister secrets that will shake the foundations of her world and everything she believes.

Can Reen defend her realm without losing her soul?

This one opens with a bang, and I am so freaking here for this. it’s been pretty dark so far, which I love, and I’m super curious about this world. It’s been established really well so far, but there’s still some things to learn, and I’m still in this beginning book mode of just falling in love with this world. I’m definitely caught up in this story already and super curious about where it’s going to lead!

           

Some more upcoming blog tour reads this week! I’ve got Bad Habits for a TheWriteReads coming up, and I’m really excited to pick it up, since I’ve been hearing good things about it so far.

It’s tiiiiime! I’ve been waiting impatiently to pick up Ashlords so that I could read the duology back-to-back, so I plan on reading that and then Blood Sworn, and I’m super excited! I’ve been ready to read this since it came out last year.

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