Welcome to Litsy!

Rae meets Tasha Suri.

Sadly it took me 6 hours to get down to London, so I didn't make it on time for the event 😭😭😭 It was John Gwynne, Tasha Suri and James Logan.

I've heard these are amazing 🥰🥰

Bookspin! And a reread, so I could move on to the sequel. Fantasy with cultural inspiration drawn from India that's fresh and easy to read. I like the toothy complications of the main relationship, and the side characters were richly drawn in their own right.

Empire wars and revolution and magic that does not feel completely overdone like much of the genre. Rly nice to read a story like this in a world that feels diverse. This is not totally ground-breaking-blow-your-mind, but it‘s entertaining and I rly enjoyed the development and interactions of the characters!

And here's what my #BookspinBingo looks like for the month. We'll see what I manage to complete.

Excited that this month's #bookspin is giving me more motivation to work on my global reading project, and that the #doublespin is going to get me through a re-read of a book in advance of reading the sequel. Here's to June!

I enjoyed this book. I thought the author did a great job of world building. I'm definitely interested in reading the next book in the trilogy.

Woo hoo! Winner of World Fantasy Awards😎 Here‘sthe link to full list of nominees and winners: https://lithub.com/looking-for-a-good-bookish-escape-here-are-this-years-world-f...

Okay FIRST OFF. This is a fantasy book, the romance is so secondary I feel robbed. This type of fantasy novel is not for me, it‘s just too long and I‘m confused by the world and not much happened bc it‘s building for the rest of the trilogy. But, sapphic, sort of Aladdin vibes, magical and burn the patriarchy, loved the idea, and the execution wasn‘t great for my tastes but a lot of other people love it so give it a shot if you‘re interested

I greatly enjoyed this sweeping fantasy romance. The worldbuilding is beautiful and expansive, and all the characters are fascinating. It felt quite long, because it‘s first in a trilogy and the things I thought would be in the second book happened in this one… and it looks like even bigger things await in book two! It‘s not an unmitigated pick, as it leaned a bit on one of my pet peeves, but I‘ll be reading the next book anyway.

“But some men dream of times long dead, and times that never existed, and they‘re willing to tear the present apart entirely to get them.”

I am greatly enjoying this book. The South Asian-inspired fantasy world is wonderful (with such a gorgeous map), and I‘m fascinated by all the intertwining, conflicting loyalties and motivations.

One thing that is sort of fun and sort of annoying about my habit of putting ebooks on hold and then continually delaying the hold until I get around to reading the book is that I forget what the book is about or where I heard about it. Scrolling back quickly through the posts about this book, it looks like I put it on hold when @slategreyskies posted about it. What‘s it about? No idea, but I look forward to finding out! 😂

This is a complex novel of layers - empire, family, rivalry, oppression, sexuality and history, to name but a few! Add to all of that some magic, a thirst for power, strong women who rule and those that want to rule, desire and you have a very satisfying - politically fuelled fantasy that has a touch of romance and an approach to the world that I was craving in Game of Thrones but never even got a glimpse of!

I was supposed to be napping!!!!!!! But no I accidentally touched my iPad and then finished a book…… And now I‘m not sure if I can sleep knowing that the second book won‘t be out for forever!

Beautiful!
The review left by S.A.CHAKRABORTY sums up the book in one.
'A fiercely and unapologetically feminist tale of endurance and revolution set against a gorgeous unique magical world'

🌸 👑🔥🤫🥷🏾
🪷 The Starless Sea
🪺 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Just finished the third Heartstopper book ❤️

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

Thanks for the tag! @MoonWitch94

#WyrdAndWonder day 5: 5 star fantasy read

Time for me to bang the drum for The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, a glorious epic of magic, ambition, family drama and simmering romance. Gorgeous world building and complex characters in a slow burn fantasy that builds to a blazing finale

A book set in Indian mythology with magical worlds and systems. I chose pick but didn't love it, it's the first in a trilogy so not sure if I will continue with it. It has family feuds, romance and political themes. It's told from multiple POVs. Definitely glad I read it.

This book doesn‘t really get going until the midway point—but once it does, it really goes. An exiled princess and a maidservant with a mysterious power must search for common ground in a struggle against a cruel emperor. Excellent worldbuilding in this one—also, intriguing magic system, political machinations, danger, betrayal, prophecies, and more. Glad I stuck with it. This is the first in a series I will likely continue at some point.

This one started slow…I mean really slow. I was enjoying it while I was reading it but found it easy to put down and be distracted by other books. But the story has finally kicked into gear in a big way and I‘m much more invested. Now it‘s hard to put down!

🎧 Lots of great girl kickassery!

Women burned alive? With a brother like that! Yikes! 2 female protagonists battle against their opposite lots in life. There‘s a subtle romance subplot. Trying to bring change, save their realm. High fantasy. Twists & turns.

The story unravels slowly but the writing is so smooth & digestible ❤️ Believable characters & dialog. A richly developed immersive world. Multiple POV. Great narration.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

It‘s a cold rainy Saturday so I‘m escaping into another world with this morning‘s book.

This did not work for me at all. While the writing is good I found the story long and drawn out. There were too many POVs and I didn't really develop an attachment to any of the characters. I think this author just might not be for me. #pantone2022

This book blew my mind! I wasn‘t overly interested when I picked it up but it I was captured instantly. The story is beautifully crafted with many twists and turns, not to mention the vibrant world the story is set in. It‘s one of those books where the story paints a picture in your mind and you can fall easily into the fantasy. The story is very inclusive and LGBTQ open which is nice to see. A great read for both women and men!

I appreciated the complex emotions and many sided drives of the main characters. A side question was if there is a link between the Rakshas and the green man.

Audiobooking while hanging out with my nieces and nephew in Copenhagen. Danish Christmas is the best Christmas. 🇩🇰🌲

Gosh I loved this - so much atmosphere, so much unusual, dark magic, such wonderfully difficult female characters. This is all struggle and personality and conflicted loyalties. Just brilliant.

Full review: https://onemore.org/2021/06/10/the-jasmine-throne/

While this was interesting in that she built a world with a complex history, mulitple belief systems and strong characters, I don't feel compelled to read the next one. I think because I'm not all that bothered what happens to the characters. Priya is likeable enough but a bit bland, Ashok is the best written out of all of them but I doubt I'll seek out the next one to find out what happens next, because I have no investment in the story.

Oh boy, that was a lot! I really enjoyed this, even though it seemed dauntingly chonky on my shelf. At halfway through I was wondering how this would spin out into a trilogy (not doubting that it could, just wondering what exactly would be picked up and spun out) -- I'm very interested to see where we go next, now!

Finally getting started on this! Though I am 100 pages in and kind of put off by how many different characters we get close-third to.

Time to pick this up, since it's a book club book! I've heard a lot of enthusiasm about it, but not much about the details.

Jazz has decided that I should read this one next! 😸💕📚 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #jupiterjazz

Really feeling this book.

This was the May Illumicrate box, I am way behind on reading their books. This month I will read July's book from last year!

May #Illumicrate - 🖤

Book, stenciled edges, author letter, signed bookplate.

Book sleeve - Spinning Silver

Enamel pin - Novel Threads pretty dress

Monthly pin - inspired by temple in the book

Tea Tin - Daevabad Trilogy

Sketchbook - Addie LaRue

Weird heavy key - Skyward (what‘s M-Bot?)

Had my advance copy from the British Fantasy Society where I am a reviewer and this was wonderful.