TBB ▲: May 2017

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

MAY 2017 BOOK HAUL + BLOG RECAP.

I HAULED A TON THIS MONTH BUT I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY I GOT THE BOXED SET OF MY DREAMS!!! WITHOUR FURTHER ADO, HERE ARE THE REST OF THE BOOKS I GOT FOR MAY! MAY ALONE! BWAHAHA!

BOUGHT FROM BOOKSALE:
- Alice in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland #1) by Lewis Carroll, Eric Kincaid (Illustrator)
- Sepulchre (Languedoc #2) by Kate Mosse
- The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
- The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Alfred Kropp #1) by Rick Yancey (not pictured)
- Us by David Nicholls
- Deep Blue (Waterfire Saga #1) by Jennifer Donnelly

BOUGHT FROM IG ONLINE STORES:
- The Near Witch (The Near Witch #1) by Victoria Schwab
- Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh Mafi *signed
- Of Poseidon (The Syrena Legacy #1) by Anna Banks *signed
- 13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelope #1) by Maureen Johnson
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Penguin Classic
- Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand
- Boundless (Unearthly #3) by Cynthia Hand
- Birthmarked (Birthmarked #1) by Caragh M. O'Brien
- Fracture (Fracture #1) by Megan Miranda
- Origin (Corpus #1) by Jessica Khoury
- The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long

FOR REVIEW:
- Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (5-star review here)
- Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1) by Leigh Bardugo
- Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao (not pictured)

~ MAY 2017 BLOG RECAP ~

May 01 - May Bookish Babies!
May 04 - 3-star review for Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer.
May 05 - #AprilFeelsDay2017 Event Recap.
May 10 - 3-star review of Don't Tell My Mother by Brigitte Bautista.
May 15 - 3-star review of Rules Of Non-Attraction by Andrea Soto-Pionilla.
May 18 - 5-star review of Chasing Mr. Prefect by Katt Brionnes.
May 21 - 5-star review of The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli.
May 27 - TBB Turns 5 + INTL Giveaway!
May 30 - 5-star Blog Tour review of Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia.
May 31 - May 2017 Book Haul + Blog Recap!

I hauled so much this month but I loved that I've quite a number of awesome reads as well! HOW DID YOUR MONTH GO?

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

BLOG TOUR REVIEW: ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS BY FRANCESCA ZAPPIA.

It's been a while since I joined a blog tour and I'm happy to be a part of this one! Thank you so much, Precious of Fragments of Life for hosting and HarperCollins International for the galley!

Title: Eliza and Her Monsters
Author: Francesca Zappia
Series: Standalone
Edition: Paperback
Publication: May 30th 2017 by HarperCollins
Source: ARC provided by the Tour Host/Publisher
Pages: 400
Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:
Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she’s worked for begins to crumble.

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, smart, and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza’s persona is popular. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community. Then Wallace Warland transfers to her school, and Eliza begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart. With pages from Eliza’s webcomic, as well as screenshots from Eliza’s online forums, this uniquely formatted book will appeal to fans of Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona and Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

Amazon ▴ Barnes and Noble ▴ Book Depository ▴ HarperCollins

When I read Made You Up, I wasn't expecting anything at all and just went through with the story's flow. As you may know, I like books surprising me and Made You Up did. Zappias' writing is simple so it's quite easy to fly through the words and her story is full of twists and turns that keeps the reader hooked. Eliza and Her Monsters absolutely delivered.

If you are a fan of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (which I didn't enjoy, oops), this book is for you. Let me start by saying ELISA AND HER MONSTERS IS WAAAAAAY BETTER AND COOLER. Monstrous Sea deserves a separate novel and I will one hundred ninety nine point nine percent buy it! This book screams nothing but amazing and I am so so glad to have been given a copy of it for review!

Eliza is so relatable especially to those introverts (and anxious lol) out there like me. Most of the time, I also prefer to just stay at home to read and journal over socialize outside with real people. Eliza is like that. Hiding her true identity behind LadyConstellation who created an online sensation comic book, her life revolves in drawing characters for Monstrous Sea. Her friends are online people and her time pretty much is devoted to her art. But it all changes when Wallace came in to the story as a transferee to her school.

I loved how the story moves along with the graphic novel. The illustrations, chats and letters in the book give so much life to it and I just can't get enough of it. The execution is how it should be: no confusion at all between the main story and the sub-story. Sub-story didn't overtake but instead lifted the main one to its glory. Major character development only happened at the latter part but in between, Zappia made sure all her characters were given sufficient voice to convey their message. It wasn't tiring to watch them all grow and the reading experience is soooo enjoyable and addictive.

What made Eliza and Her Monsters stand out in my opinion is that characters didn't suppress their feelings. They are not afraid to say they are mad or sad, hurt or loved. The way they discover and put names to their emotions and experience are things that are truly validating and speak volumes that it is okay to be different and it is okay to make mistakes. Plus, you wouldn't predict when the twist will happen. It's like riding a roller coaster, you just die in anticipation at the top waiting for the drop.

I have discovered another name to put in to my list of Auto-Buy Authors. Intense, adorable and swoony, Eliza and Her Monsters is such a precious book that needs to be devoured right away and deserves a spot on your glorious bookshelves. It is so good you CANNOT shut up about it!

Thank you Precious and HarperCollins International for the galley!

"The doubt itself is a stupid thing, without sense of feeling, blind and straining at the end of a long chain. The monster, though, is smart. It's always watching, it unchains the doubt and lets it run wild. Even when I know it's coming, I can't stop it."

"He never stops beings scared, but he doesn't let it stop him from doing what he has to do."

"What's the point of being alive if you don't do what makes you happy?"

"The things you care most about are the ones that leave the biggest holes."

"Broken people don't hide from their monsters. Broken people let themselves be eaten."

"I learned years ago that it’s okay to do this. To seek out small spaces for myself, to stop and imagine myself alone. People are too much sometimes... I take a moment of silence and think: I am here. I am okay."

Saturday, May 27, 2017

TBB TURNS FIVE!

Dunkin Donuts' Red Velvet Cupcake is one of the bests I've tasted!

I won't going to make this long but today is my blog's 5th birthday! Whew! 5 years old! WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK, RIGHT? I couldn't believe I've been doing this for 5 years now! It's been such an enjoyable journey and even though there are bumps in the road, it's still the one thing I wouldn't give up on. I've thought about quitting during those stressful/lazy times but then realization hits me that blogging has been such a huge part of my life I just couldn't you know, stop. So well, ummm, thank you for following, for reading and for staying with me. It's an honor to be an inspiration to others and I always say this, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything else.

Thank you, guys, really. It means so SO much to me that you are still here.

To celebrate, here's an international giveaway for you. You can win a book/s worth 20$ from Book Depository as long as TBD ships to you! This is open internationally, ends June 30th!

Rules:

Follow my blog via GFC - click this to be routed
Follow my Twitter page - click this to be routed
Follow my bookstagram IG account - @thebookaholicblurbs

Thank you again, guys! Be safe, fight the good fight and be awesome!

Sunday, May 21, 2017

REVIEW: THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED BY BECKY ALBERTALLI.

Title: The Upside of Unrequited
Author: Becky Albertalli
Series: Standalone
Edition: Kindle
Publication: April 11th 2017 by Balzer & Bray
Source: eARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss
Pages: 336
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance, YA, F/F, Contemporary

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back.

There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

Amazon ▴ Barnes and Noble ▴ Book Depository

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli proves that she deserves to be in everyone's Auto-Buy Authors Lists. Simon VS set the bar quite high for me and it took a while before I joined the the fandom and it was an amazing book! I should have read it sooner!

This one filled me with extreme emotions. It resurrected my old feelings and made me love Molly so much. I was thin in high school (AND fat now) but Molly is so easy to relate to! Her voice is the kindest I've ever read and I loved it so much that she tries to think good of others all the time. Molly have also encapsulated her flaws in a way that people would be able to see themselves in and for me, Becky just represented fat people in a flawless way and I couldn't ask for anything more because Molly (I LOVE THIS GIRL), Becky (AND THIS GIRL) and Upside (AND THIS BOOK) have all star qualites.

Let's not forget the different types of love in this book! I have encountered M/M parents before and I think this is the first one I read F/F parents and OMG THEY ARE FABULOUS! Not only because they are F/F but because #lovewins (fuck yeah!) and Becky just gave us the perfect family! Thank you, Becky. Thank you for making the Upside world such a better place and I wanna live in it. Also, thank you for Reid's family, their circle of friends who are all equally brilliant and OMG for Cassie and Reid! Can I ask them to adopt me? PLEASE, BECKY?

Fat rep? Check.
Family dynamics? Check.
LGBTQPIA+? Check.
Mental Illness rep? Check.
So many other important things like self-worth? Check.
Fluffy romance? Cheeeeeeeeeeck.
Did I miss anything? Check. LOL

The Upside of Unrequited is a book worth picking-up and re-reading just right after. It's THE book you will easily definitely identify with and it has all the kind of feels you are thirsty for!

Thank you HarperCollins and Edelweiss for the eARC!

"ven if he likes me, I’m not sure he’d like me naked. I hate that I’m even thinking that. I hate hating my body. Actually, I don’t even hate my body. I just worry everyone else might. Because chubby girls don’t get boyfriends, and they definitely don’t have sex. Not in movies—not really—unless it’s supposed to be a joke. And I don’t want to be a joke."

"Something like that. But you know, there's an upside here. Because when you spend so much time just intensely wanting something, and then you actually get the thing? It's magic.” All of a sudden, I feel like crying. In a good way. In the best way. Because I know exactly what she means. It's butterflies and haziness and heart eyes, but underneath all that, there's this bass line of I can't believe this. I can't believe this is me. I can't quite articulate the sweetness of that feeling. It's finding out the door you were banging on is finally unlocked. Maybe it was unlocked the whole time."

Thursday, May 18, 2017

REVIEW: CHASING MR. PREFECT BY KATT BRIONES.

Title: Chasing Mr. Prefect
Author: Katt Briones
Series: Standalone
Edition: Paperback
Publication: February, 2017 by Anvil
Source: Finished copy provided by the author
Pages: 136
Genre: New adult, Romance

Synopsis:
For the first time in her life, Vinnie finds herself on the brink of academic suspension.

While standing up to a bully is something she'll never regret, she has to take on additional responsibilities in lieu of punishment for the offense. This unfortunately involves working with Cholo, the head disciplinary prefect, who seems to take delight in other people's blunders. Her determination to match his expectations eventually leads her into a crazy chase to keep up.

Will Vinnie be able to carry on and eventually catch up? Or will the chase be too much for her to handle?

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

Amazon ▴ Anvil

A college student struggling to graduate on time, Vinnie just became one of my ultimate favorite female characters. She wouldn't let anyone bully her by putting them in their right places and because of this, she got involved in a brawl that landed her butt in the Head Prefect's Office. She can't afford to get suspended so she has to join an org to make up for it. Having a temper and a mouth she cant control, I am simply fascinated by Cholo - the org head and her crush - was able to tolerate and jive with her.

Feeling like her dad didn't grieve her mother enough, Vinnie treats her step-mom and step-sister ill. (SHOUT OUT TO THESE TWO AMAZING PEOPLE) No matter how much they empathize, Vinnie's so angsty that her behavour towards them is unbelievable. In the middle of a study sesh one night, she got hungry so she went out grab a quick bite. She and Cholo started to become close friends after they ran on each other in McDonald's. He learned her family situation and got a glimpse of why she's nasty to her family and what I absolutely adored here is how Cholo's being illegitimate child made Vinnie reassess herself. It was such a balanced approach and the level of connection I had with that scenario just caused a ton of waterworks. I mean, it was the best approach ever.

GOOOD!! I LOVE THIS STORY!!! I'm foul-mouthed too (it's so nice to finally see a character who talks like you lolol) and Vinnie's angsty and sarcastic retorts made me snort so much! She mirrors me (at least) because I used to get involved in brawls in gradeschool because I won't let people bully me. And I get it, I get how it could be hard to accept things and loosen up to people you think didn't do enough and this book validated like, my entire life. It isn't only a matter of relating to it but like, I AM IT. It was told in such a heartwarming way I couldn't thank Katt enough for writing this. This story is so raw and the reflects such real, unpolished portion of this life in a brilliant way.

I tried seven times to draft this review but I kept failing. I won't - ever - be able to give justice to how amazing this story is. I won't. But I won't stop pushing this book to people because it has everything I need in it: family dynamics, real life struggle (acads as an example), friendship bumps, relationship growth, M/M relationship (ASHER AND CHAD, YESSS GURL!), travel (ANNYEONGHASEYOOOOO!), behavioral assessment (Cholo being a control freak) and success through hardwork. It gives perfect balance to romance and every day life and that made it even better! The banters will make you giggle and the pick-up lines will make you swoon. Duuuuude, Cholo is life!

This is one of the books that I wish I could read for the first time all over again! Chasing Mr. Prefect will move you to tears. One of the unputdownables, this story will get you hooked from page one till the end!

Thank you super duper, Katt, for sending this copy for review!

"'You sould spend Christmas with us. Cris makes awesome pasta, plus Liana's sans rival is crazy delicious. You'll love it.'
'Seriously?' he asked, looking excited. 'God, I love you!'
'Sabay ganon?'"

"'Don't you ever get tired of me? All that anger and angst?'
'Nah. You're a good person, just doing a good job of hiding it.'
'Tarantado.'"

"'All I could think of now is you and how to free you from this pain but I couldn't. I'm just as wounded and no matter what you might think, that makes me just as scared as you are about things. That makes me feel that I'm not good enough for you either, but enough or not I want to be here, with you."

Monday, May 15, 2017

REVIEW: RULES OF NON-ATTRACTION BY ANDREA SOTO-PIONILLA.

Title: Rules Of Non-Attraction
Author: Andrea Soto-Pionilla
Series: Standalone
Edition: Paperback
Publication: February 2017 by Spark Books
Source: Bought from National Bookstore
Pages: 80
Genre: Romance, New Adult

Synopsis:
It wasn’t love at first sight. It wasn’t even lust at first, or second, or third. Alexa and Ivan are just friends—roommates, at that. For him, she’s a scheming, social-climbing she-devil. For her, he’s a stiff, boring know-it-all. Should be fun, right?

Of course, things don’t ever go as planned.

Quitting the high-paying dream job, squandering rent money, and getting unceremoniously dumped pale in comparison to the bigger problem of falling in love with the most unexpected person.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

Amazon ▴ Anvil

Social climbers are old news. You can easily spot them in action every day, everywhere. I don't mind though. So when I read Rules of Non-Attraction and it highlighted how Alexa do it, I couldn't help of course, think about those people who try so hard to live a life they couldn't afford. It was so risky but impressive if I may say.

Alexa's personality is strong, loud and she's brutally straight to the point. She says literally what she thinks and it comes off as a problem, in my opinion. There's nothing wrong with sticking to the truth but calling people names and hating people for how the look are things that are just simply wrong in so many levels. I cannot justify her hurtful words with her immature/bitchy personality because hurtful words are hurtful words, period. The synopsis says "scheming, social-climbing she-devil" as a head's up for readers but I cannot and will not approve of her attitude. I know there's a possibility of character redemption if given the right amount of time to develop but right now, that knocked off two stars from my rating.

The story is a little bit predictable due the tropes but I felt like it was executed amazingly. The writing style is smooth and believe me when I say this, it was such a huge relief that I didn't see any typos at all! Alexa was so in denial about her feelings from page 1 but the romance was given ample time to mature. As I have said above, her character is redeemable but in this short story, I didn't appreciate how she treated Ive. It felt abusive to me. There's this thin line between a character whose personality is strong and an abusive one and Alexa definitely is the latter.

A romance that is admirable with a redeemable character, Rules of Non-Attaction is an enjoyable and swoony read that is worth your moment.

"But Alexa flet her pulse slow and her head begin to clear. She slowly felt the courage she had been praying so hard for fill her body. It spread through her torso and settled in her chest.
Past that, she detected something else she didn't completely recodnize. It was wild and fiery, but happy. It overpowered the nagging doubts and anxious questions scratching at her heart. It was wonderful.
And that was the bright neon sign saying that it was the time to get carried away.
"It's more like... more like I love you," Alexa said quietly."

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

REVIEW: DON'T TELL MY MOTHER BY BRIGITTE BAUTISTA.

Title: Don't Tell My Mother
Author: Brigitte Bautista
Series: Standalone
Edition: Paperback
Publication: April 23rd 2017 by Spark Books
Source: Bought from National Bookstore
Pages: 94
Genre: Romance, New Adult, LGBTQIA+, F/F

Synopsis:
With an overly zealous mother as her guide, 19-year-old Sam has never had problems navigating through Christian suburbia before. But, all that changes when she befriends and becomes intrigued with Clara, her widowed neighbor and the village’s social outcast. When their friendship grows into the “unnatural”, Sam is forced to examine her upbringing and come to terms with who she really is.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

Amazon ▴ Anvil

Don't Tell My Mother is an exquisite story about a girl coming to terms with her sexuality. It was a rough road Ava had to go through but that didn't stop her from being true to herself. Growing up in an all girl's catholic school and being in a hardcore self-righteous "christian" community, Ava fought hard and endured so much just to be with her first love, Carla. It wasn't the "boy+girl" relationship so her surroundings made it too difficult for her. But you see? LOVE FUCKING WINS.

I was a first hand witness to these kinds of homophobic/self-righteous people. It was and is sickening. God did tell us to love one another but these people are just so extremely close-minded and selfish I couldn't help but feel this fiery rage that they have to be so stupid like that. But I gotta respect people and be gentle in making them realize how wrong they perceive my LGBTQIA+ friends. I wasn't around anymore to know if they'd eventually come to their senses but my friends are happy and that's what matters to me most.

The writing for Don't Tell My Mother is superb but also slow. I hate slow-paced stories in general but this book felt like it needed the slowness. It has to have time to develop and I could say I am satisfied with how events turned out and how it ended. The backstory of Ava's dad gave the entirety of it all a huge and strong kick and I loved how heart-wrenching it was. I wish though that Ava kept in touch with her dad. I just feel like it would mean the world to him if she did.

I also wish that some goodness in the Christian Community could have graced the pages, even just a little bit. To balance it out.

Don't Tell My Mother is a journey to acceptance and self-love. It is another story that champions how love wins. It feels heavy in the heart but surely puts bright lights in the mind.

"I mean, what do you do when you don't have to be you?"

Friday, May 5, 2017

#APRILFEELDAYS2017 EVENT RECAP!

*Drafted April 30*

Just got home from UP Town Center in Quezon City where the #AprilFeelsDay2017 event was held. It was quite far from me but I love it there. The mall has this cozy ambiance and it's so clean and refreshing to look at. Since it was just my first time there, it took me a while to find the venue but when I found it, I went directly to Biblio (I will make a separate post about that) and bought three preloved books from there. Then my ever favorite JM from the Book Freak Revelations found me so I went to the venue with him.

THE MALL!

The event was packed with lovely readers and amazing authors. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. This is the second Live Reading event (first here) I have attended and let me tell you this, there's this unlimited feels in the air! Gio is my favorite and OMG, I couldn't just stop swooning! I also bought a lot of books and yes yes yes, I finally met Jay, Six and Ana. I also met Brij, Janus, Inah and Gavin! Woohooo!!

The wall!

Display table!

BOOOOKKKKKKKKKKKSSS!

I wasn't able to take much polaroid shots with the authors because I have limited film so I'll make sure I have enough next event. But this event legit rocked my weekend because gaaaaad, I went home fully loaded with feels and fully loaded with books!

LOOT! GOOD BYE MONEEEYYYYY!

BOUGHT:

Songs of Our Breakup (Playlist #1) by Jay E. Tria *signed

Kate, Finally by Yeyet Soriano

You Could Be the One by Ana Tejano *signed

Keep the Faith by Ana Tejano (5-star review here) *signed

Beginner's Guide: Love and Other Chemical Reactions (Talking Nerdy #1) by Six de los Reyes *signed

Before I Lose My Nerve: (This is NOT About You) by Layla S. Tanjutco

Fall Like Rain by Ana Tejano *signed

AND MY FAVE PART IN THE LIVE READINGS! OH, GOD!! GIO, GIO, GIO!!
ENJOYYYYYYY!

This is my favorite live reading of all because this is the first time I have watched Gio read and OMG MY OVARIES EXPLODED! AND I IMMEDIATELY BOUGHT KATE, FINALLY! HAHA! (video from Romance Class' YT channel! Thanks, Ana!

You also may want to check out JM's recap!

Thank you so much to all the organizers of this event! To you readers who I was able to fangirl with, blogger friends (nice to have hugged and met and seen you again!) and to all authors for doing what you do best! Keep writing!

Thursday, May 4, 2017

REVIEW: SPINDLE FIRE BY LEXA HILLYER.

Title: Spindle Fire
Author: Lexa Hillyer
Series: Spindle Fire #1
Edition: Paperback
Publication: April 11th 2017 by Harper Teen
Source: ARC provided by the publisher
Pages: 368
Genre: Retellings, Romance, Fantasy

Synopsis:
A kingdom burns. A princess sleeps. This is no fairy tale.

It all started with the burning of the spindles.

No.

It all started with a curse…

Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.

And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.

As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.

Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape…or the reason for her to stay.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

Amazon ▴ Barnes and Noble ▴ Book Depository

Spindle Fire is more like a Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland crossover retelling. You can get the Alice feel in the world building which is absolutely stunning. I appreciated how Hillyer took over Sleeping Beauty story and put her own surprising twists in it that are all still original. The story kept me devouring the pages until the very cliffhanger-y (but perfect) end.

Aurora is alluring but she has no sense of touch and cannot speak for these senses are tithed to the faeries. Aurora have given enough of her senses already so her sister Isbe's eyesight was tithed instead of Aurora's youth. Malfleur cursed the child but Violette tried reversing the curse. Instead of death, Aurora would be in a deep sleep and only a true love's kiss could awaken her. Isbe's blindness made her senses hightened. The siblings loved each other and have compensated the disability by being there for each other and by communicating using finger taps. On the day when Prince Philip and his brother would visit Aurora (to plan for their wedding), the princes were murdered. Aurora and Isbe then overheard the council that they will move Isbe to a convent because Isbe is no longer needed. Isbe ran away and Aurora tried to search for her. But she got lost and only seeked refuge in a cottage in the middle of the forest. Here, she saw a golden spinning wheel and accidentally pricked her finger. She was overwhelmed by the pain and woke up screaming. She realized she had her senses back and she was rescued by Heath. Apparently, she's in a dream-like place called Someil. While one the other side, Isbe learned everything about the curse and convinced Gil to rescue her sister. But the sleeping sickness is spreading fast. She has to convince the youngest brother of Prince Philip to marry Aurora and she's confident he's the one who could save her. After traveling to land and sea, they failed. Aurora didn't wake up when the prince kissed her. Isbe was so broken hearted about it and.... (LOL)

Okay, it's a little bit challenging to write a summary for Spindle Fire haha because it was like two parallel universes. Universe A is where Isbe is and Univers B is where Aurora is. Their stories are being narrated at the same time so while Isbe is trying to save her sister, Aurora is trying to unlock Belcoeur's history and trying to save people trapped in a dream world called Someil. The curse put her there. That alone is kind of mind blowing. But what I truly adored here are the sibling's relationship, the back story and THAT FREAKING ENDING.

Malfleur and Belcoeur's story would be something I'd be thrilled to read. I wish Hillyer would right like a separate novel for these two. They have so much difference as siblings but deep in my heart, I know, they still love each other. And OMG really, I cannot fathom the pain they went through because of that Blackthorn guy.

I loved the familiarity of Sleeping Beauty and I also absolutely loved Hillyer's take on it. But there were times (a lot) I got confused, like, whose head I am in right now? There were a ton of POVs that I truly got confused especially along the middle part. The back story and the plot twists were squeezed and forced to happen in 368 pages? I don't mind reading 400 pages especially if the story asks for it and Spindle Fire felt like it had to be longer. And I wish though that Hillyer focused MORE on the siblings up and down relationship instead of the romance? It could have developed at the second book. I mean, there's so much info dump in here but the development lacked and execution was rushed.

Spindle Fire is surely a refreshing take on Sleeping Beauty! Enchantingly dangerous, Spindle Fire is packed with loyalty and courage you wouldn't find anywhere else but in your family. Fans of retellings would definitely enjoy this!

Thank you, HarperCollins International Sales for the galley!

"Light too can be a curse. It can illuminate things no one should ever have to witness."