Welcome to Litsy!

Between the new release of Dracula, a broken collarbone, & her sister‘s death, Tillie sets out to hunt the vampire she thinks killed her sister. Fueled by a budding opium addiction, a friendship with a lower class boy, & her obsessive personality, Tillie discovers a love for writing & a nefarious plot that took more lives than just her sister‘s.
It dragged in some places but the attention to detail was impeccable.

This was a really entertaining book about vampires which is one of my favorite tropes in books. I thought the way that they brought Dracula into this was so interesting and I loved the setting and the story behind this. Tillie is such an interesting main character. From the first page, I was hooked on her story and I had to know how it ended!

Crude plot summary: Addiction in New York at the turn of the century (19th to 20th) as seen through the eyes of a young woman.

The audiobook narration was meh - mispronounciation, mixed up accents.

The mystery was predictable.

Next kindle book on the list. As I‘m trying to read more according to goodreads I‘m 13 books behind on the yearly goal. And my kindle seems to be how I want to read right now. Ok on to the book I mean I like it but it‘s a bit slow in the beginning.but things seem to be picking up

1899 NYC, suspected vampire killings - what's not to love? Well the MC for a start. I found her a bit tiresome to be honest. She is supposed to be 18 but acts younger, in some ways she is very naïve. The story itself is rather good, with some darker elements (TW for drug taking, sexual content, & an attempted sexual assault), & the hesitant romance between Tom & Tillie is quite sweet. 3.5🌟

I was able to get one out of two of my #roll100 read in February, so I have re-added Vicious to my list this month to try to get it done. However, these are the next two rolls which I‘m looking forward to because it‘s a bit of a change of pace for me over the last two months.

Opium & Absinthe was a fun one time listen - compelling enough to keep me engaged, but not particularly breathtaking in its scope. The story was a tad predictable.

But, the book brilliantly captured society‘s addiction to drugs & their consequences - especially at a time when they were peddled as medicine by doctors.

Narration was not great since the narrator tended to drop & mix accents a lot. Plus they did not have a great vocal range.

@katy4peas Look what arrived in the mail today. Thank you for getting it back to me! I love reading #lmpbc books when they make it back home. About to eat this ginormous cookie my sweetie made me and read the notes! 🤩

I almost gave this one a “pick” but couldn‘t quite pull the trigger. This is a very light suspense/thriller read and would‘ve been better I feel if the heroine was just a tad less flighty. Otherwise great historical setting and enough elements to draw you into the time period. Although there were some inaccuracies that jumped out at me and pulled me from story hence the rating.

My #weeklyforecast of 6 books🤦‍♀️ and 1 finished today

Just finished: The Great Gatsby
Audio: #sundaybuddyread Queenie
#pemberlittens #buddyread Mansfield Park
#lmpbc round 10 Opium
#lmpbc round 11 Towards Zero
Reading on my own: 7 1/2 deaths (hibernating ATM)
Listening to on my own: Home Before Dark (might DNF) I can‘t decide if I am enjoying it or am creeped out.

Thank you @jenniferw88 for my amazing package.
I am enjoying these chocolates.
@candority 😘

#bookcupidswap #reading #femaleauthor #bookswap #currentlyreading #books #reading #horror #truecrime #truestory

🎧 This is a quick fun thriller. There are several suspects.

This might be a drawback to historical fiction from 1899 but the wishy washy whiny 18 year old female MC was occasionally annoying especially since she seems to be a lot more headstrong than her antics portray.

TW - drug addiction, makes you wonder if you‘ve got an unreliable narrator. What it isn‘t - a vampire novel. The writing wasn‘t top notch but the narration was good.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving today!
🙏🦃🧡
I was able to sneak in some reading time and finish this one up for #lmpbc. I won't go into detail but it was a pick! @moonwitch94 @SamAnne @katy4peas

Off work today and Finally starting my #lmpbc pick for round 10! Loving this cover and hoping the story is as appealing! @moonwitch94 @SamAnne @katy4peas

Without surprise, I enjoyed Opium and Absinthe, after loving A Beautiful Poison. The book has a murder mystery, a vivid presentation of addiction, a love story, and a few cautionary tales sprinkled along the way... and all of that with a touch of inspiration from Dracula! I did figure out the reason behind the murder, but had the wrong culprit in mind. Also: after seeing him in two books, I DESPISE James Cutter.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ really good, finished in one day 😁

Next up on kindle 🌺

“Don‘t give up before you try. Defeat is particularly lethal early on in any journey; don‘t let it be your compass.”

"She stepped inside the library, soothed by the dim illumination from the overhead skylights. Huge arches lined the cavernous space, marking the colonnades around the upper floors. Tillie signed in and merely stood in the atrium sighing in pleasure. To be surrounded by books, by thoughts, by places and people and things that she had not yet met—it was a haven unlike any other."

"No woman lives a life unscathed. It's what makes us strong. We are broken and mended, remade every time. We must, or it destroys us."

An enthralling and immensely pleasurable read. I haven‘t enjoyed reading a book this much in awhile. This one was so well done and overall just so much fun that I genuinely didn‘t want it to end. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

No woman lives a life unscathed. It‘s what makes us strong. We are broken and mended, remade every time. We must, or it destroys us.

#audioworking Reading and working Win win!

1) Opium and Absinthe; A Woman is No Man; The Stone Sky. 2) Allegedly. 3) Larch March, Halloween, cozy cabin nights. 🍁 #weekendreads

#Two4TuesdayGiveaway @TheSpineView

1. Depends on the book. If I intend to read it again (or if I really love it), I‘ll keep it. If not, I‘ll eventually pass it along.
2. Tagged. It just sounds so good but I‘ve got a few books I haven‘t read yet so I can‘t really justify the purchase.

Thanks for the tag @Jerdencon !

This was ok. She almost lost me with the parrot scene. If you're looking for a fairly light mystery this might work. I actually downloaded this because of the cover.

#BookSpinBingo square 12
@TheAromaofBooks

I received an #ARC from #LakeUnion via #Netgalley
Pub date was 7/1/2020

This journal and book came in my Scribbler box was today. There were other cool things in there, too, but I‘m especially excited about these!

Next up on Kindle:
New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke‘s sister is dead, her body drained of blood with two puncture wounds on her neck. Tillie‘s imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire.
Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, & she won‘t rest until she unravels the mystery. Unfortunately, she's also addicted to laudanum…and some in her immediate circle are happy to keep her well supplied.

1st book completed for the #AwesomeAugust #readathon @Andrew65

An accurate portrayal of opium addiction in a stifled, intellectually curious protagonist. I really loved the characters in this one and trying to guess what was going on. Are vampires real, or do we have a very diabolical human murderer? The setting was well set up and the language used was just right.

My second NetGalley bail this month. I did not enjoy the writing style at all. I found it tedious. A quarter of the way in and I still didn‘t care about any of the characters or what would happen to them. I skipped to the end, found the chapter where Tillie discovers the murderer, and couldn‘t stop my eyes from rolling. It doesn‘t help that I disliked all of the characters I‘ve encountered thus far. #NetGalleyReviewathon 3/17

Wow! SO IN LOVE with this book. What a fantastical kaleidoscope of vampires, newsies, drug addiction, and serial killers! Lydia Kang‘s storytelling did its job in making me love each and every character (even the unsavory ones). I cannot wait to dive into her other novels. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars!

This was a great first read of summer hols! It combined a lot of my favourite things: historical fiction, mystery & the gothic. I was wary of the subject matter at first but the characters were truly likeable ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A half truth is a whole lie.” I‘m enjoying this one so far @ about 50% through 📖

My pick for Amazon Prime First Reads. I really liked this author‘s The Beautiful Poison, and I like a good vampire story so I hope it‘s a good pick!

My Amazon First Reads pick for June.

First reads pick this month: New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke‘s sister lies dead, her body drained of blood and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker's Dracula has just been published and Tillie‘s imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire. But it can‘t be—can it? Addicted to laudanum because of an injury, Tillie's unsure if it's real. What she does know: someone in her family wants to keep her addicted.

TBR explosion here we come!

https://crimereads.com/the-most-anticipated-crime-books-of-2020-summer-reading-e...

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