September 2020 TBR

AHHHHH Autumn is among us and I cannot be more excited!

I think all of us can agree that we just want the best part of the festivities to come and wrap up this crappy year. I am in my element this month and more so next month which might be why my WIP is centered around All Hallow’s Eve! Speaking of… I announced this on my personal twitter but not on here yet… I have officially finished the FIRST draft of my WIP! *Wails about enthusiastically and starts to cry a little*

A more in depth look on that will be in the next writing update, but for now, it’s all about taking some much needed time away from my story so I can come back to it with a clearer vision, because let me tell you this draft is utter garbage. It needs to be reworked entirely, but hey, you can’t edit what’s not there! What better way to do that then to indulge in other stories by other incredible people!

Here is my September TBR!

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

Now this is the sequel to Serpant & Dove, which I did a little review on earlier in the year on this blog. Shelby is a genius and Serpant & Dove was a book that was so delicious and intriguing to devour. I highly highly recommend it. The sequel is one of the most anticipated releases for September (it came out Sept. 1) and I ran to my nearest bookstore (wearing a mask, DUH!) and grabbed it.

I can’t wait to start it. And I mean, look at that gorgeous cover. It looks more fabulous in real life!

Here’s the Synopsis:

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Dames Blanches, Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.

To elude the scores of witches and throngs of chasseurs at their heels, Lou and Reid need allies. Strong ones. But protection comes at a price, and the group is forced to embark on separate quests to build their forces. As Lou and Reid try to close the widening rift between them, the dastardly Morgane baits them in a lethal game of cat and mouse that threatens to destroy something worth more than any coven.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kremmer

Now, I am the first one who will tell you I live and breath for a fairy-tale retelling! Another Beauty and the Beast one? HELL YES!

This book has been on my sights for a while, I have just been so consumed with so much that I never got the chance to properly pick it up and start it, although I have been staring at it from the corner of my eye as it lay among all the other books I am dying to start reading. This one has a bit of portal magic which I love, heehee (my WIP is all about that), and the mixing of two worlds. I think it is a perfect Autumn read!

Here’s the Synopsis:

Fall in love, break the curse.

Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s pulled into a magical world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie

So this lovely book was one I was meant to start back in the spring… but then life hit (this is my excuse for almost everything, as I am sure those with an enormous TBR pile will also use the same reasoning), but it was always in the back of my mind. So much so, that I have it on my Kindle and a paper copy of it. I have heard nothing but wonderful things from everyone who has read this and they’ve pushed my ass into gear, putting this into my September TBR and making it the first book I will pick up and devour!

Here’s the Synopsis:

Bone ​Criers have a sacred duty. They alone can keep the dead from preying on the living. But their power to ferry the spirits of the dead into goddess Elara’s Night Heavens or Tyrus’s Underworld comes from sacrifice. The gods demand a promise of dedication. And that promise comes at the cost of the Bone Criers’ one true love.

Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become the matriarch of the Bone Criers, a mysterious famille of women who use strengths drawn from animal bones to ferry dead souls. But first she must complete her rite of passage and kill the boy she’s also destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Yet when he finally captures one, his vengeance will have to wait. Ailesse’s ritual has begun and now their fates are entwined—in life and in death.

Sabine has never had the stomach for the Bone Criers’ work. But when her best friend Ailesse is taken captive, Sabine will do whatever it takes to save her, even if it means defying their traditions—and their matriarch—to break the bond between Ailesse and Bastien. Before they all die.

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Okay firstly, the cover. I meaannn…. gorgeous! Simple but so elegant and I can’t wait to see how it ties into the entire story. This book feels like its rich with culture and intrigue and fantasy and the sparkle of a renowned palace. It rarely happens, but I kinda maybe already love the main character and I haven’t even read the book – just the synopsis. That’s never ever happened before, but something about Amani makes me feel for her already. Also, a beautiful name. I love LOVE diversity in a book. This one is screaming my name.

Here’s the Synopsis:

In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.

As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection…because one wrong move could lead to her death.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Another book I was meant to start and finish about a year ago and one that I think about all the time. This book is one of the ones that make me so happy just seeing it on the shelf. Because an Arab, hijabi woman wrote it. It gives me hope beyond belief and reminds me dreams come true. Inspired by ancient Arabia, I am ecstatic to be reading some of the folklore I’ve come across growing up in a different light. It also has an amazing cover and the promise of a hate-to-love relationship that I just live for. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into this and see what everyone on my TL on Twitter is going on about!

Here’s the Synopsis:

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, We Hunt the Flame is a gripping debut of discovery, conquering fear, and taking identity into your own hands.

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

Honestly, I kinda feel like a broken record at this point but… I can’t wait to read this on. I don’t even have to preface this with anything. The synopsis of this book lays it out perfectly in that it seems like it has it ALL. Romance. Adventure. Betrayal. Evil. Ancient History. I’m just gonna let you read the summary for yourself. You’re probably going to pick it up as well. I hope it’s better than I think it is!

Here’s the Synopsis:

One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.

Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll.

There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll…at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart.

With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.

So This is Love by Elizabeth Lim

Another fairytale retelling and what better way to welcome the beginning of the pumpkin season than with a little Cinderella? I am excited for this version of the story as it is not one that has been told before. Elizabeth Lim wrote another one of my favourite books last year and one I reviewed on this blog, Spin the Dawn. She has such a way of laying out a scene and prose to make your eyes water. I am thrilled to see her name on this book and know it’ll be an amazing read.

Here is the Synopsis:

What if Cinderella never tried on the glass slipper?

Unable to prove that she’s the missing princess, and unable to bear life under Lady Tremaine any longer, Cinderella starts work at the palace as a seamstress. However, when Cinderella finds herself witness to a grand conspiracy to take the king – and the prince – out of power, she is faced with questions of love and loyalty to the kingdom.

Cinderella must find a way to stop the villains of past and present… before it’s too late.

So that sums it up! I am going on a complete book reading binge while I take some time off from the writing game. I hope everyone has had an incredible start to the month thus far. What books are on your TBR and should I be adding any to mine?

Happy Reading!

x