Every night before I go to bed I read from my kindle some book in either sci fi, fantasy, or romantasy. Usually some combination of it all. I use my creativity all day long as a product designer so it’s recharging to use my imagination and dive into stories.

When I was a kid my form of escapism was reading. Scholastic fair was the holiday of the year, even though mom never let me buy the fun pencils but whatever, it’s not like I’m holding onto that or anything…

So anyways, since I read so much I figured I would share my thoughts around the books Ive been reading in this newsletter. Lucky you!

Don’t subscribe if you think this is gonna be me being wise or learning things to advanced me professionally or as a human - this is pure screaming in girl talk.

This is basically me texting you at midnight about whatever book just destroyed me. Expect gushing, expect honesty, expect me to lovingly drag the parts that were absolutely unhinged. Sometimes a book leaves you in such an emotional way you cant move on for days and other times you want to die from the cringe that someone thought was acceptable to publish.

I’ll give you the details.

IYKYK who this author is. She just made her official debut but she was the author of Manacled which was like the biggest fan fic out there for harry potter back in the day. Emotionally wrecked an entire generation of readers. Think Draco <> Hermione romantasy where harry potter meets handmaiden.

Well shes back to wreck us again.

And I have so many feelings. First up - you better read those disclaimers lol.

The vibe: Dark as hell. War-torn gothic manor, necromancers everywhere, corrupt guilds running things, and our MC has amnesia, was one the losing side of the war, and is being held captive in a manor owned by the ML. The manor itself feels like its a character - crumbling and atmospheric and equal parts prison and home.

The worldbuilding: I don’t think this book needed to be as long as it was first off. You could skip literal chapters and nothing major would of changed, at least in my opinion. Okay so there's necromancers and alchemists and this city-state called Paladia and it's... a lot. Honestly it got confusing sometimes and dragged in places. I definitely had moments where I was like "wait explain that magic system again?"

Also the alchemist angle felt kinda random? Like the necromancer stuff okay yeah i get that magic and dark gothic vibe was front and center but then alchemists would pop up and I'd be like "oh right, you're here too." I was like no wonder necromancers won the war lol.

The plot twist: I DID NOT SEE THE SECOND HALF COMING. And then I immediately went back and reread the beginning with new context and the male lead is a completely different character?? His quiet emotional strength hit SO different once you know what he's dealing with while she has amnesia.

Also when I figured out his whole... thing (trying not to spoil) I literally screamed out loud.

The romance: Enemies to lovers. Angry and messy and slow to trust but loyal forever once you earn it. Is the angst a bit much sometimes? Yeah. Is the pregnant angle necessary? Nah, its old news. Did I still eat it up? Obviously.

That villain though: Absolutely revolting in the best worst way. The gore had me gagging. I had to put the book down multiple times and just stare at the ceiling. So viscerally well-written it gave me chills.

Do you need to read manacled first? Nope! And honestly maybe don't because it helps to let this be its own thing. Full confession: I still preferred Manacled but that's probably my Harry Potter nostalgia (yes I still watch it every fall and have feelings about this new harry potter tv show monstrosity thats coming out).

Bottom Line:
🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3/5 spicy
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 stars
📖 1040 pages of ANGST and GORE

Read if:

Skip if:

I doubt I’ll read it again cause it was so damn long but definitely an emotional and imaginative journey through this book! Great for October spooky vibes too! 👻
Thanks for being here for newsletter attempt and let me know what you think i should read and share what I think next

Talk soon,

Sisi