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[haven-is-literate]

"Dark Rise" C.S. Pacat

(7 bees out of 7)

[No spoilers]

THIS BOOK DOES NOT FUCK AROUND. Holy shit. I am so impressed. I originally read this book on a whim because my favorite artist did a piece on them @llstarcasterll I mean just look at their art and tell me it's not the living energy of the sparkle eyed emoji. Besides the point; the first few chapters had very much the vibe of setting up for a trilogy so I set my expectations low as the first book in a trilogy I usually find lacks much more than world building, character sets ups and a minor tragedy used as the inciting incident that is resolved over the other 2 books. But this book DID NOT do that.

This is a dark fantasy novel set in like I wanna say exploring age England. Like their riding horses and scooting around on boats as the major transport. I could be wrong the setting is a little confusing. But it's all about a magic realm that is found within the main characters current realm and how he's wrapped up in it.

The Bad:

The audio book is read a little on the slow side, like the voice is physically reading the words slow but at 1.5 or 1.25 speed it's a lot more fluid and able to keep my attention

There is literally nothing else bad that i have been able to find about this book tentatively the cast is cis and straight but the series isn't far along enough to confirm that and I have suspicions.

The Good:

It's incredibly captive writing, the 3 Rd person perspective change is whag keeps this book intresting as we have a really confusing grasp on characters that gets untangled as we go along. I can't gush about this enough when you finally get the entire picture of how all the characters fit together in the last chapters it's just *chefs kiss* gorgeous

The charactersss! I would argue this is a character driven plot that's just made so intresting by setting and the worlds circumstance. The characters are so nicely developed and relationships are molded and formed very realistically and naturally, character motivation never fails in this book.

Smut: There ain't none of it, sorry to the Horny toads. There are some suggestive scenes and one kiss scene but nothing special

Audio experience: This is a standard audio book, all read by the same Person (Christian Coulson) who does voices for the different character's dialogue. As I said earlier little on the slower side as I did have to speed it up to 1.25, but overall a good quality audio book.

IN CONCLUSION: THIS BOOK IS BALLIN' I am so excited to read the next book, it's said to come out this fall and I am tintalating knowing it probably won't release untill December if not next year. But it's okay, I digress. It's so good. Go read it right now.

Favorite quotes:

“I think what people were is less important than what they are. And what people are is less important than what they could be. ”

-C.S. Pacat, Dark Rise

"Kindness is never a mistake... Somewhere in the heart it is always remembered."

-C.S. Pacat, Dark Rise

P.S. SPOILERS HERE: I really hope Nelly the horse survives, I just adore her, she's doing so great.

[haven-is-literate]

"In Deeper Waters" F.T. Lukens [REVIEW]

(6 bees out of 7)

[No spoilers]

This is the second F.T. Lukens novel I read. I got in the habit this summer to just read more than one book by the same author to gauge their vibe. I read this after reading So This is Ever After and must say I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was.

This is a cute romance novel set in a exploring age fantasy setting. The vibes are very much the Montague Sibling books by Mackenzi Lee, without the daddy issues. and as I said in comparison to the last published novel this is A spicy-a meat-a-ball *cue Italian hand gestures* This is the proverbial good cush when it comes to the recent novels of F.T. Lukens.

The Bad:

Everyone is cis portrayed, but I suppose the writing is good enough that it makes up for that one thing I crave in a novel.

The main focused couple white cis men, but they are interesting in a variety of other ways that it doesn't inhibit the story.

There is no explained system of magic other than the distinction between two different types, but this is understandable in the circumstances of the book as it explains how there are only a few mages left

The Good:

Good developed characters that move the plot forward in a natural well passed way (thought there is a little Wattpad aesthetic that the main and secondary character immediately are enthralled with each other but even that is contextualized with their backstories to make a reasonable amount of sense).

There is a very interesting family dynamics laying the underlying structure to host the love story (that is separate from the family, no incest) and adventure. and it's made very interesting and I liked it a lot :)

There is no racism, and the character's skin tone does not seem to affect standing or worth in society in anyway which is always a nice element to see in fantasy.

That being said!!!! There is mention of sexism in another land from where its set, and there is mention of homophobia and how the main characters mother is accepting of diverse sexuality, meaning in this fantasy world they are a very real thing.

Smut: There ain't none of it, sorry for my horny toads. The main character is a teenager but becomes so infatuated with one intrest that there is more romantic pining than horny thoughts. THough there are a few intresting suggestive and romantic scenes

Audio experience: This is a standard audio book, all read by the same Person (Kevin R. Free) who does voices for the different character's dialogue.It was well passed in reading speed as I didn't feel a need to speed it up but it was also very understandable at 1.25 speed for speedlisteners.

For research purposes I read F.T. Lukens' other novel that was published after titled This is Ever After [read review here]

IN CONCLUSION: This book is very cute and I do recommend giving it a looksy as it made me very happy and fluttery, in the sense that it felt like a modern fairytale with a lovely message of self acceptance. Just go read it and come back to gush with me.

Favorite quotes:

“See? Nothing that is a part of you could ever be bad.”

-F.T. Lukens, In Deeper Waters

"“I’ve got you.”... “For how long?” “Until you tell me to let go.” "

-F.T. Lukens, In Deeper Waters

[haven-is-literate]

"So This is Ever After" F.T. Lukens [REVIEW]

(4 bees out of 7)

[No spoilers]

I AM EASY TO PLEASE. I can't give this book any lower though I must say it's objectively just okay. I originally read this book as a friend of mine saw the cover in a book store and thought I would enjoy it. She was correct.

This is a light hearted cute romance novel set in a DND type world. This novel is a bastard child of the Simon Snow trilogy (by Rainbow Rowel), I'm sorry, this just had to be said, only this novel does not attempt to write a system of magic and instead just,,,, uses DND. This is an absolutely acceptable thing to do as an author but I just personally don't like it, because systems of magic are interesting to read and this novel just didn't really have one.

I did enjoy this book but it very much came out of a fondness for Wattpad books that I read as a tween, because this novel has a lingering Wattpad smell that it can't seem to shake.

The Bad:

This book relies heavily on the miscommunication trope, which was not very clearly written and I genuinely didn't understand the first time the miscommunication occurred.

The characters are kind of basic, they are an appropriate amount of witty and young and they are slightly developed and adequately rounded by the end of the book, but over all lack luster.

The system of MAGIC, I know I already touched on this but it was just so non-existent and undeveloped that I was sad and I just want more about the world.

There is a trope that is a world building plot point that is blatantly reused from another F.T. Lukens novel (more on this later)

The one NB character in this novel is done dirty :( [not really, but i just felt bad for them and second hand awkwardness by the end of the book]

The Good:

It's cute! if you want a light hearted read to destress you can easily pick up this novel

It has a lot of diverse characters (thought the main character and the secondary character are both white cis men), there is about equal male to female characters that are developed and get screen time, there are characters of color and an NB character that are only casual mentions as the world is build to not really involve prejudice or bias with sexuality, gender(identity) or race

There is a straight couple that just makes me happy for the fact that their story is so badly written, there was no context or much preluding their getting together and just felt like the two were pushed together to make the plot work. It's not good writing but it did make me laugh.

Smut: There ain't none of it, sorry for my horny toads but this ain't your book. There are some suggestive mentions and one sexually provocatively scene but nothing to write home about. Though, the main character is incredibly horny, and honry toad might relate to his 17 year old thoughts as I know they reminisced with my pansexual self in a spiritual manner.

Audio experience: This is a standard audio book, all read by the same Person (Kevin R. Free) who does voices for the different character's dialogue. A little on the slower side as I did have to speed it up to 1.5 for it to keep my attention, but overall a good standard audio book.

For research purposes I read F.T. Lukens' other novel that is currently out "In Deeper Waters" which is a spicy-a meat-a-ball. [read review here]

IN CONCLUSION: This book is objectively not great, but it's good enough to keep my attention when read at 1.5 speed. this is a leisure book I would put as optional on the bottom of your reading list. But it's still cute.

This is a fun read. This novel is one you read when you have an excess of time or want to for self-care time. This novel will no change your life but it does have a nice message: you can handle whatever hand life decides to deal you.

Favorite quote:

“How was I feeling? Like spoiled meat. Like brackish water. Like I had worked very hard at shearing and chasing sheep all over the field, and had fallen down a rocky hill, then trudged home to sleep on the floor, and woke up with a sore body and without purpose.”

-F.T. Lukens, So This is Ever After

P.S. the cover art kind of gorg, done by Sam Schechter, I just adore the composition.

[haven-is-literate]

Heads Up [Disclaimers]

Disclaimers for the die-hard readers that want all the data and just general information about my reading life:

I am extremely dyslexic and thus mainly exclusively read audio books. I can't pay attention to hard copy books but do collect them hoping to have my own library some day.

I am so easy to please when it comes to books. I realize I am usually not a hard critic because I am an academic slut for a good set of words. An entire books can be hot garbage and I can fall in love with it because of one line that caught my eye and kept my heart.

I think I genuinely don't understand or comprehend books, I have reread entire books because by the end of the book I'll relize I have no idea what happened, this can be because I blanked for too many chapters and didn't pay close attention or because I am a genuine idiot. If you have read a book i discuss and disagree with me because I didn't understand a book,,,,, pls tell me,,,,, my brain is so small but I just wanna know all the juicy thoughts of authors and yours!

I am an Non-binary reader and critic. I would love to discuss and talk (and can even be convinced if you disagree with my points) but I would really appreciate and adore you if you could use my pronouns: they/them

feel free to hmu anytime,

love the slugs in your local area, Haven :)