Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

"I hate how much I love it out here. I shouldn't. But the thrill ignites me, even as it terrifies me". Dark Academia is becoming a firm favourite of mine, and Masquerade of Mirrors by Samantha Hartwood just blew me away. 🖤✨ Packed with magic, mages, devious students and a school that is more illusion than reality, I was hooked. Now, remember that I rarely read the synopsis of a book, so when I was thrown into the middle of a deadly desert at the beginning, I began to wonder if this was Star Wars all over again! 😂 Where was the magic? Why was I just reading about sand and an ill old man? But OMG — the magic was coming, as was the hot mage and his curious secrets. 🔥🪄 In Samantha's incredible debut novel, you'll watch Taera go from an inexperienced young girl, with no knowledge of what lies outside her hut in the desert, to an awesome, sassy young woman who is so powerful it makes even Nikolai step back in wonder. ⚡️ Nikolai himself wears a virtual coat of armour...

“Even alligators have parents, Dawes. That doesn't stop them from biting” Ninth House 📚 was the book of choice for November's read for #thatindiebookclub. I didn’t really know what “Dark Academia” 🏛️ was all about when the theme for that month was revealed, and that’s exactly what I love about these book club reads—they push you to try things you might not have picked up otherwise! ✨ I decided to listen to the audiobook 🎧 for this one, and I really liked it. It was slow to start as we’re dropped into Alex’s Yale world—a world she was recruited into rather than earned through school achievements, all because she can see ghosts! 👻 The story is told across two timelines: Spring 🌸 and Winter ❄️. I’m still not entirely sure when Alex arrived at Yale and which timeline features Darlington training her versus after he disappears. But honestly, it doesn’t really matter—I don’t feel the need to understand every single detail to enjoy a story, and I absolutely did. 😄 I loved Alex’s...

“The problem with knowledge, is it's inexhaustible craving. the more of it you have, the less you feel you know” Chosen for September’s read for #thatindiebookclub, I’m still unsure how I feel about The Atlas Six. I listened to the audiobook, and since the story is told from multiple viewpoints, the full cast definitely helped keep track of the numerous characters. The story was unlike anything I’ve experienced before—there was so much to take in and work out, and I got lost many, many times. Figuring out who each character was and what their magical power entailed was… complicated. I liked some characters, hated others, and felt ambivalent about the rest. I did like the plant lady—Reina, I think—but the voice of the plants was a bit sickly-sweet and weird (you wouldn’t get that if you’re reading the print version!). There’s a lot going on, but at the same time, not much actually happens—yes, I know that sounds contradictory, but that’s exactly how I felt 😂. Will I read the next o...