#livi grady

[alaydabug2]

Remember that time when a small group went to those burn sites where the flowers sprouted

And people were just gawking at the beauty that is of the elves

And entire bus of girls were screaming at Tam

Quite a few adults got out their cameras and took pictures of Grady and Livy instead of the flowers

Cause I do 😭

[brightbeautifulthings]

The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle

"Everyone knew you shouldn't go biting into fruit offered to you by magical creatures in the woods, even if you'd thought until just five minutes ago that such stories were, you know, only stories."

Year Read: 2022

Rating: 4/5

About: Kit and his family have been the liaisons between the goblin and human world for generations. Much as he resents their presence and having to steal for them, bringing them gold is the only way to keep the humans of Bellwater safe from their influence. When he's late with a payment, the goblins retaliate by cursing a local girl, Skye. Under a compelled silence about what happened to her, Skye falls into a deep depression, and her sister, Livy, worries about her constantly. Desperate to save herself, Skye accidentally draws Kit's cousin, Grady, into the spell with her, leaving them both someday doomed to return to the woods and become goblins themselves. As the only one untouched by the curse, it's up to Livy to save them all. Trigger warnings: death, magic-induced nonconsensual attraction/lust, abduction, drowning, fire, trauma, depression. NSFW content.

Thoughts: I loved this more than I thought I would. After enjoying Wintersong and Shades of Rust & Ruin (other goblin books unrelated to this one) but finding them a bit fantasy-heavy for my tastes, The Goblins of Bellwater is a nearly perfect balance of real-world issues and paranormal romance. I very much enjoyed Ringle's take on goblin lore, its rules as tricky as any fae's but twice as wicked, and I really liked that all the romance is among the humans. There's no sexy goblin king here (not that I don't love a sexy goblin king), and it's refreshing that the goblins are just the villains.

It was more romance than I was expecting, and I would definitely put it more in New Adult or adult fiction territory due to some of the NSFW content and all the characters being at least college-aged or older. The relationships among the four main characters are well-developed, from Skye and Livy's sister bond to the magically compelling attraction between Skye and Grady (but be aware that there is a lack of consent there, since they’re both under a spell). Their varying interests--art, cooking, mechanics, environment--provide an interesting layer to everything. I wanted to taste Grady's cooking and see Skye and Kit's artwork.

Bellwater is practically a character of its own, and the setting is gorgeously described. The characters love the outdoors, and there’s a strong sense of atmosphere in all of Skye’s hikes and Livy’s work as an environmental scientist. The plot is a bit of a slow-burn, as it takes time for everyone to realize that Skye is under a goblin curse when she can't speak about it. It picks up quite a bit toward the end and involves a series of tense challenges for Livy to break the curse. It’ll definitely make it on the list of my favorite books of the year.

[facecastsofcutandrun]

Cut & Run Series

Character:  Livi Stanton Grady

Facecast:  Amber Heard

[xmanicpanicx]

Mammoth List of Feminist/Girl Power Books (200 + Books)

Lists of Real, Amazing Women Throughout History

Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World by Ann Shen

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls 2 by Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World by Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu, Montana Kane (Translator)

Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath

Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs by Jason Porath

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World by Mackenzi Lee

Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History by Sam Maggs

The Little Book of Feminist Saints by Julia Pierpont

Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History by Kate Schatz

Warrior Women: 3000 Years of Courage and Heroism by Robin Cross & Rosalind Miles

Women Who Dared: 52 Stories of Fearless Daredevils, Adventurers, and Rebels by Linda Skeers & Livi Gosling 

100 Nasty Women of History by Hannah Jewell

The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser

Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World by Jane Yolen

The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience by Hillary Rodham Clinton & Chelsea Clinton 

Fight Like a Girl: 50 Feminists Who Changed the World by Laura Barcella

Samurai Women 1184–1877 by Stephen Turnbull

A Black Woman Did That by Malaika Adero

Tales from Behind the Window by Edanur Kuntman

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight for Their Rights by Mikki Kendall

Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100 by Max Dashu

Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency by Bea Koch

Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History by Blair Imani

Individual and Group Portraits of Real, Amazing Women Throughout History

Alice Paul and the Fight for Women's Rights: From the Vote to the Equal Rights Amendment by Deborah Kops

Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All by Martha S. Jones

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life by Jane Sherron De Hart

The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice by Patricia Bell-Scott

I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb

Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by Amaryllis Fox

Native Country of the Heart: A Memoir by Cherríe L. Moraga

The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Alice Diamond and the Forty Elephants: The Female Gang That Terrorised London by Brian McDonald

Women Against the Raj: The Rani of Jhansi Regiment by Joyce Chapman Lebra

Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus

The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor

Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt

The Women of WWII (Non-Fiction)

Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue by Kathryn J. Atwood

Skyward: The Story of Female Pilots in WWII by Sally Deng

The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II by Katherine Sharp Landdeck

The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich, Richard Pevear (Translation), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translation)

Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation by Anne Sebba

To Serve My Country, to Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African-American Wacs Stationed Overseas During World War II by Brenda L. Moore

Standing Up Against Hate: How Black Women in the Army Helped Change the Course of WWII by Mary Cronk Farrell

Sisters and Spies: The True Story of WWII Special Agents Eileen and Jacqueline Nearne by Susan Ottaway

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell

The White Mouse by Nancy Wake

Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon

Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II by Liza Mundy

Tomorrow to be Brave: A Memoir of the Only Woman Ever to Serve in the French Foreign Legion by Susan Travers & Wendy Holden

Pure Grit: How WWII Nurses in the Pacific Survived Combat and Prison Camp by Mary Cronk Farrell

Sisterhood of Spies by Elizabeth P. McIntosh

Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan by Shrabani Basu

Women in the Holocaust by Dalia Ofer

The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos by Judy Batalion

Night Witches: The Untold Story of Soviet Women in Combat by Bruce Myles

The Soviet Night Witches: Brave Women Bomber Pilots of World War II by Pamela Jain Dell

A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein

A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II by Anne Noggle

Avenging Angels: The Young Women of the Soviet Union's WWII Sniper Corps by Lyuba Vinogradova

The Women of WWII (Fiction)

Among the Red Stars by Gwen C. Katz

Night Witches by Kathryn Lasky

Night Witches by Mirren Hogan

Night Witch by S.J. McCormack

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

Daughters of the Night Sky by Aimie K. Runyan

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Code Name Verity series by Elizabeth Wein

Front Lines trilogy by Michael Grant

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

All-Girl Teams (Fiction)

The Seafire trilogy by Natalie C. Parker

Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

The Effigies trilogy by Sarah Raughley

Guardians of the Dawn series by S. Jae-Jones

Wolf-Light by Yaba Badoe

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Burned and Buried by Nino Cipri

This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow

The Wild Ones: A Broken Anthem for a Girl Nation by Nafiza Azad

We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett

Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu

The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti

Kamikaze Girls by Novala Takemoto, Akemi Wegmüller (Translator)

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke

Sisters in Sanity by Gayle Forman

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl

Hell's Belles series by Sarah MacLean

Jackdaws by Ken Follett

The Farmerettes by Gisela Tobien Sherman

A Sisterhood of Secret Ambitions by Sheena Boekweg

Feminist Retellings

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh

Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue

Doomed by Laura Pohl

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke

Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

Kate Crackernuts by Katharine M. Briggs

Legendborn series by Tracy Deonn

One for All by Lillie Lainoff

Feminist Dystopian and Horror Fiction

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Godshot by Chelsea Bieker

Women and Girls in Comedy 

Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin

Stand Up, Yumi Chung by Jessica Kim

This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry

Unscripted by Nicole Kronzer

Pretty Funny for a Girl by Rebecca Elliot

Bossypants by Tina Fey

We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy by Yael Kohen

The Girl in the Show: Three Generations of Comedy, Culture, and Feminism by Anna Fields

Trans Women

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock

Nemesis series by April Daniels

American Transgirl by Faith DaBrooke

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout by Laura Jane Grace

A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom

Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt

George by Alex Gino

The Witch Boy series by Molly Ostertag

Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman by Laura Kate Dale

She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan

An Anthology of Fiction by Trans Women of Color by Ellyn Peña

Wandering Son by Takako Shimura

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

Feminist Poetry

Women Are Some Kind of Magic trilogy by Amanda Lovelace

Wild Embers: Poems of Rebellion, Fire and Beauty by Nikita Gill

Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul by Nikita Gill

Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters by Nikita Gill

The Girl and the Goddess by Nikita Gill

A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland by DaMaris B. Hill

Feminist Philosophy and Facts

The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner

The Creation of Feminist Consciousness: From the Middle Ages to Eighteen-Seventy by Gerda Lerner

Misogyny: The World's Oldest Prejudice by Jack Holland

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism by Bushra Rehman

Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks

Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World by Kelly Jensen

The Equality Illusion by Kat Banyard

White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck

Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates

I Have the Right To by Chessy Prout & Jenn Abelson

Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World by Kumari Jayawardena

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

How to Suppress Women's Writing by Joanna Russ

Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie

Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks

Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins

But Some of Us Are Brave: All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men: Black Women's Studies by Akasha Gloria Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott, Barbara Smith Women, Race, and Class by Angela Y. Davis This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe L. Moraga, Gloria E. Anzaldúa

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDinn

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture by Roxane Gay

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by by Cherríe Moraga & Gloria Anzaldúa

Power Shift: The Longest Revolution by Sally Armstrong

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

Had It Coming: What's Fair in the Age of #MeToo? by Robyn Doolittle

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement by Jody Kantor & Megan Twohey

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy

Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time by Tanya Lee Stone

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power by Sady Doyle

Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement by Robin Morgan (Editor)

Girls Make Media by Mary Celeste Kearney

Rock She Wrote: Women Write about Rock, Pop, and Rap by Evelyn McDonnell (Editor)

You Play the Girl: And Other Vexing Stories That Tell Women Who They Are by Carina Chocano

Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl: A Memoir by Jeannie Vanasco

The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers by Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Editor), Hollis Robbins (Editor)

Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World by Jessica Valenti and Jaclyn Friedman Bread Out of Stone: Recollections, Sex, Recognitions, Race, Dreaming, Politics by Dionne Brand

Other General Girl Power/Feminist Awesomeness

The Edge of Anything by Nora Shalaway Carpenter

Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza

Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg

The Female of the Species by Mandy McGinnis

Pulp by Robin Talley

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

American Girls by Alison Umminger

Don't Think Twice by Ruth Pennebaker

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

In Love & Trouble: Stories of Black Women by Alice Walker

You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories by Alice Walker

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Sula by Toni Morrison

Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell & Katie Cotugno

None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Everything Must Go by Jenny Fran Davis

The House on Olive Street by Robyn Carr

Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Lady Luck's Map of Vegas by Barbara Samuel 

Fan the Fame by Anna Priemaza

Puddin' by Julie Murphy

A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti

Gravity Brings Me Down by Natale Ghent

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachael Allen

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

Don't Tell a Soul by Kirsten Miller

After the Ink Dries by Cassie Gustafson Girl, Unframed by Deb Caletti

We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire by Joy McCullough 

Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee

Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters

Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone

The Prettiest by Brigit Young

Don't Judge Me by Lisa Schroeder

The Roommate by Rosie Danan

Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince

Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present by Lillian Faderman

All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister

Paper Girls comic series by Brian K. Vaughan

Heavy Vinyl comic series by Carly Usdin

Please feel free to reblog with more!

[ollieofthebeholder]

NOTE: This story takes place between Ball & Chain and Cross & Crown. Happy Memorial Day.

It certainly wasn't the first time they'd gone to West Virginia for the weekend and been dragged to church. It was just the first time Zane could remember Ty not putting up a fuss about the idea.

West Virginia hadn't been Zane's first choice, not by a long shot. It was Memorial Day weekend and also Ty's birthday, and while there wasn't anything particularly special about turning thirty-eight, it was his first post-deployment birthday. Zane had been racking his brains for an appropriate place for a weekend getaway, until Mara had called and cheerfully informed them that if they didn't drag their asses up to the house voluntarily, she would hunt them down and grill them alongside the hamburgers.

Zane wouldn't put it past her. He'd been trained by some of the best agents the FBI had ever produced, survived things that would have killed a lesser man, taken down men and monsters and barely managed to avoid becoming one himself. He was six foot four and tended towards the free weights when he went to the gym. But he'd also watched Mara Grady cheerfully and without apparent effort skin and butcher an eight-point buck to serve it for breakfast.

They'd dragged their asses up to West Virginia.

And now here Zane sat, wearing a suit but thankfully no tie, between a mullioned cathedral window and the man who dearly and inexplicably loved and wanted to marry him. The church seemed even more full than usual, although that could have just been Zane's imagination. He didn't think so, though. Normally when they went, the Gradys were able to have a pew more or less to themselves, but today they were crammed in with another family, a couple around Zane's age and three people who were probably their children, the oldest of whom looked to be in his twenties and the youngest of whom couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen. In fact, it was so crowded that there wasn't room for Amelia to sit on the pew herself. Zane had her perched on his lap, partly because he remained her favorite—much to Ty's chagrin—and partly because he was on the end of the row, so he could make a quick exit if she got fussy. It wasn't likely, she was extraordinarily good-natured, but just in case, it would be nice to have an excuse to leave.

Glancing behind him, he couldn't spot an empty seat in the building. Jesus, even Easter Sunday wasn't this crowded.

Zane slid his eyes over to Ty. He was sitting rather stiffly, his back ramrod straight. It might have had something to do with their activities of the night before; since it was actually Ty's birthday, Zane had stayed up until midnight for the express purpose of being the first one to wish Ty a happy birthday, and they'd stayed up another hour or so celebrating. It might also have had something to do with the fact that Ty, probably because it was Memorial Day weekend, had chosen to wear his dress blues to church, which meant that he was more or less at attention and also meant that Zane had a hard time keeping his eyes off of him. But at the same time, Ty'd been uncharacteristically quiet most of the weekend.

Carefully—he was never sure how Ty would react to these things in public, or at least in certain public places—Zane reached over and placed his hand on top of Ty's. Ty didn't look at him, but he turned his hand over and squeezed it hard. Zane squeezed back, but now he was seriously worried. This wasn't normal. At all.

Was someone in the family sick? Sidewinder? Was Ty? They'd promised no more secrets and no more lies, after nearly losing one another in New Orleans, but that didn't mean Ty wouldn't wait to tell Zane something if he didn't want to ruin the weekend. Or if whatever was wrong was something that stemmed from whatever had gone wrong on his deployment, which he still wouldn't talk about.

Zane forced himself to swallow back the panic. He was being ridiculous, he chided himself. Ty was fine. Everyone was fine. Ty wouldn't keep something like that from him.

“Please rise for the opening hymn, number 511, 'O God of Earth and Altar,'” the worship leader intoned.

Zane rose with everyone else, Amelia on his hip, and tried to juggle both her and the hymnal until Ty gently took it from his hands and held it open to the appropriate page. Zane wanted to kiss him, but held himself back, considering their surroundings. He knew Ty didn't need the hymnal; the publication date on these was 1952 and Ty'd had pretty much the whole damn thing memorized since he was about twelve. But he appreciated him holding it for him.

The service was...fairly typical, as far as Zane could tell. No reason for it to be as crowded as it was. The hymn, the responsive reading, the scripture...all of it was exactly what Zane expected out of one of these services. So what the hell was going on?

When it got to where the Children's Moment normally would have been, instead of the worship leader inviting the kids forward, the preacher stood. He glanced towards the pew where the Gradys sat, lifting his eyebrows briefly, before turning back to the congregation at large.

“Tomorrow is Memorial Day,” he said, his voice ringing out sonorously through the room. “A time set aside every year to remember those who have given their lives in defense of our freedom. The ones who served and didn't make it home. The ones who have passed on, but never truly left us.”

There was a choked sob from somewhere down the pew, and Zane honestly couldn't have said whether it was a Grady or someone from the other family. And then, suddenly, it hit him like a ton of bricks. Why Mara had insisted they come visit. Why Ty was sitting so stiffly. Why Deuce kept bunching the fabric of his trousers into his fists. Why Earl, for the first time since Zane had met him, looked his age.

Memorial Day. Ty was fresh from a deployment, and considering he still didn't talk about what he'd done over there, Zane had no way of knowing if one of his men hadn't made it home. He had to be thinking about Eli Sanchez, too, on the fourth Memorial Day he was on the roll of the fallen. But more importantly for the entire Grady family, it was the first Memorial Day since Deuce's wedding.

Since Richard Burns' death.

“At this time,” the preacher continued, “I would like everyone in the congregation with a loved one who has passed on who served in the Armed Forces to please rise.”

The Gradys rose as one. Deuce looked badly shaken as he did so. Beyond them, the family at the other end of the pew also rose; the oldest son started to, hesitated, and then sat back down, his head bowed and his fists clenched. Zane guessed there was a story there and wondered what it might be.

Glancing behind him again, his gut twisted as he realized that fully half the congregation were on their feet. Elderly men in full uniforms, still standing as straight as age would allow them; white-haired women, gripping canes and the backs of pews for support; younger couples and families, obviously remembering parents or grandparents. One young girl, who couldn't have been more than ten or eleven, cradled a teddy bear in camouflage in one arm and held up a framed photograph of a smiling serviceman in the other. Zane had to look away.

He probably could have stood for Burns, but Livi wasn't either. He'd known Burns better—of course he had—but not as well as Ty. Not nearly as well as Ty. And he still hadn't quite forgiven him for...well, everything really. He didn't deserve to, and more to the point, he didn't want to.

A pang of guilt shot through him as he realized, for the first time, how grateful he was that he didn't have to. Had things been slightly different, had fate not smiled on him and decided to grant him a mercy he didn't deserve, he might have been standing right then, trying not to fall apart. Assuming he'd survived, which honestly wasn't guaranteed.

He'd barely survived losing Becky. He wasn't sure he could survive losing Ty.

The preacher let a moment of silence pass before thanking everyone and telling them to be seated. He gave a short but heartfelt prayer for the fallen. After the “amen”s had died away, he glanced at the Grady pew again and nodded, then sat down.

Ty and Deuce stood up.

The congregation was silent as the two brothers edged their way out of the pew and walked to the front of the church. Deuce was pale as a sheet, wearing the same suit he'd worn for his wedding. Ty stood at attention, his face the serious, almost expressionless mask it always was in his dress blues. It was Deuce who nodded at the choirmaster, who nodded to the accompanist, who began to play.

Zane didn't recognize the music, but that didn't stop the thrill that ran down his spine when Ty began to sing. “Dawn is breaking the stormy night...”

It was a haunting and beautiful song. Ty sang the first verse solo, describing a group of soldiers preparing for a battle, giving their lives for a life. His voice rose as he reached the end of the verse, where the soldiers recognized the American flag flying overhead. Deuce joined on the chorus, the two of them singing in truly beautiful harmony.

To freedom, justice, and liberty, it's the Stars and the Stripes forever...

Ty dropped out and let Deuce sing the second verse on his own. This was a more concretely Christian verse, talking about the crucifixion and stating that he was freed by His scars and His stripes, but Zane was still thinking about the first verse.

Still thinking about Ty.

Ty and his brothers, crawling through the dark, knowing that if they died their families would never know how or why. Ty having to be held back as he watched a man he probably hadn't even realized he'd loved until that moment die to save them. Ty doing everything he could to get home to Zane and knowing it still might not be enough.

Zane swallowed hard. He wasn't really a religious man anymore, but he definitely believed, and as Deuce and Ty began the second chorus, he sent up a prayer of thanks that the twenty years were up, that Zane would never again have to watch the man he loved go somewhere he couldn't follow, that nobody would ever ask them to sacrifice the other for their country again.

That Zane would never have to stand up at this service without Ty.

The song ended. The music died away. There was a moment of silence, probably immediately preparatory to the congregation applauding, assuming any of them could. In that moment, Ty turned smartly on his heel towards the American flag, squared his shoulders, and snapped to attention as he saluted the flag.

The sight took Zane's breath away, just like it had at Lydia Reeves' funeral two years before. Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention, and he turned in time to see first Chester, then Earl, also both in their uniforms, rise to their feet and copy the salute. Amelia peered over Zane's shoulder, eyes wide, and he didn't have to turn around to guess that everyone else in uniform was doing the same thing.

Ty held the salute for a minute, then lowered it, pivoted back to the front, and saluted the congregation—unsurprising, as some of the men out there probably outranked him. Probably. Nor was Zane surprised when they all saluted him back. Or at least, he thought they were saluting him back.

It was hard to see through the blur of tears.

Ty and Deuce slowly walked back to the pew. Zane stood up to give them access. As Ty passed him, he saw the glint of tears in his eyes, and he couldn't help himself. Amelia notwithstanding, the fact that they were in view of the majority of the congregation be damned, Zane reached out and pulled Ty into a tight hug.

Ty returned it, that was the shocking thing. He clung to Zane hard, his hands gripping the back of Zane's suit jacket, the same way he'd held onto him when he first got home from deployment. Zane could feel him shaking slightly and wanted to keep holding him until he stopped, but he knew this wasn't the time or the place. Instead, he slowly and carefully eased back. Ty did, too, and they resumed their seats. But as they did, Zane reached over and laced his fingers through Ty's. Ty clutched him back like he might never let go.

The rest of the service was honestly a blur to Zane. They sang another hymn, which he thought might have been “America the Beautiful”; there was a scripture lesson, and a sermon, and then they sang “Amazing Grace” as the closing hymn, which was terribly unfair. Then came the benediction and the blessing, and the choir—thirty strong at least and still not sounding as good as Deuce and Ty's duet had—sang a closing song while the acolytes carried the Light of Christ out the back of the church. As the song reached its end, the preacher bellowed from the back of the room, “And all God's children say—”

“Amen,” the congregation replied in unison. The service was over.

Normally the Gradys left immediately after church was over, or—if Ty and Deuce had their way—slipped out during the last hymn to avoid getting swept up in the crowd. Today, though, Mara shoved them all towards the doors that led to the main part of the church, and they had no choice but to obey. Mara Grady with a bee in her bonnet was a force to be reckoned with.

“That was beautiful, Ty,” Zane said quietly as they followed the crowd down the hall. He wanted to pull Ty aside and kiss him senseless, but in the first place, he wasn't about to do that in Ty's church, not knowing how the congregation might react, and in the second place, they wouldn't get out of the throng without serious injury at this point.

Ty kept his eyes locked straight ahead of him, and Zane would have wondered if he'd heard except that he said, his voice so soft it wouldn't have been audible if Zane hadn't been listening for it, “I had to do something for them.”

“I know.” Zane shifted Amelia to his other hip and brushed his hand discreetly against Ty's lower back.

Ty reached for Zane, pulling them together, then managed to angle them out of the stream of people and to a turn-off for another hallway, where nobody was standing. For a wild second, Zane thought Ty was going to kiss him, but instead he simply pulled him into another tight hug, clinging to him as his shoulders began to shake.

Zane hugged him back, Amelia trapped between them as he felt his fiance fall apart. Felt him mourn. For Richard Burns, for Eli Sanchez, for Chas Turner. For every ghost that had filled the sanctuary and every tombstone he'd stood beside. Tears soaked into Zane's shoulder as Ty let himself grieve, let himself remember.

And Zane held him, silently reaffirming what he'd promised from the moment he'd given Ty his heart. That he would be there. No matter what.

That they would remember together.

[larchwood]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zane Garrett/Ty Grady Characters: Ty Grady, Zane Garrett, Dan McCoy, Nick O'Flaherty, Kelly Abbott, Duruand "Digger" Garrigou, Owen Johns, Elias Sanchez, Michelle Clancy, Fred Perrimore, Scott Alston, Mark Masterson, Olivia "Livi" Stanton, Serena Scott Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Nickels - barely mentioned, Zane's the new kid, You have to read Dan McCoy as Coach Finstock from Teen Wolf, Ferris Beuller reference, bisexual boys

So there used to be an AO3feed Cut & Run tumblr page.  I forgot who set up the thing, but that person fell out with either the fans/writer/whatever.  But they kept the page going.  Looks like they no longer want to.  We might have to figure out how to set up another one.....

[astudyinfic]

Title: Just Like Family

Series: A December of Ty and Zane

Fandoms: Cut & Run

Relationships: Ty Grady/Zane Garrett, Earl Grady/Mara Grady, background Deuce/Livi

Words: 2559

Part: 2/31

Summary:   A Grady family tradition brings closely held feelings to the surface and Zane starts to understand what it means to be a member of this family.

Support a Writer: Buy Me a Coffee

“You’re coming home with me,” Ty told Zane the moment his boyfriend walked past his desk in the empty office.  Everyone else left early, ready to get a jump on their holiday plans and now only Ty and Zane remained.

Zane had raised a brow and asked, “I thought I already lived with you, doll.  Is there something I need to know.” 

Hands resting on Zane’s shoulders, Ty shrugged.  “Ma and Dad expect us home for Christmas. I was planning on leaving tonight.  Your bag is already packed.”

[cutandrunsucks]

Afterwards

read it on AO3 at http://bit.ly/2SHRCJ3

by Isaythings

Ty looked down at Zane in his arms through his tears, his heart breaking. Zane's next words ringing in his ears because he knew it would be the last time he ever heard them.

"I love you, Beaumont."

Words: 2128, Chapters: 2/2, Language: English

Fandoms: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Zane Garrett, Ty Grady, Nick O'Flaherty, Kelly Abbott, Duruand "Digger" Garrigou, Owen Johns, Richard Burns, Mara Grady, Earl Grady, Deuce Grady, Harrison Garrett, Annie Masterson, Beverly Carter-Garrett, Olivia "Livi" Stanton

Relationships: Zane Garrett/Ty Grady

read it on AO3 at http://bit.ly/2SHRCJ3

[readcommendations]

The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle

Be forewarned: this book is odd and full of sex, and will mess with you. It’s not a usual kind of novel, and definitely not contemporary romance as it’s being advertised. All this aside, I think I loved this novel, but I’m left unsure because of just how strange it was. Ever see the movie “Dark City,” or “Labyrinth”? Even “Pan’s Labyrinth”? It’s a bit like that...

Summary

A contemporary romance inspired by Christina Rossetti’s eerie, sensual poem, “Goblin Market.” Four neighbors encounter sinister enchantments and a magical path to love in a small, modern-day Puget Sound town, where a fae realm hides in the woods and waters…

Most people have no idea goblins live in the woods around the small town of Bellwater, Washington. But some are about to find out.

Skye, a young barista and artist falls victim to a goblin curse in the forest one winter night, rendering her depressed and silenced, unable to speak of what happened. Her older sister, Livy, is at wit’s end trying to understand what’s wrong with her. Local mechanic Kit would know, but he doesn’t talk of such things: he’s the human liaison for the goblin tribe, a job he keeps secret and never wanted, thrust on him by an ancient family contract.

Unaware of what’s happened to Skye, Kit starts dating Livy, trying to keep it casual to protect her from the attention of the goblins. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Kit, Skye draws his cousin Grady into the spell through an enchanted kiss in the woods, dooming Grady and Skye both to become goblins and disappear from humankind forever.

It’s a midwinter night’s enchantment as Livy, the only one untainted by a spell, sets out to save them on a dangerous magical path of her own.

Musings

This book falls more under the umbrella of “Magical Realism” than contemporary romance, in my opinion. The fascinating world of the goblins is explored, and boy does it put you on edge the whole way through! The author has an incredible talent for drawing you into the story, all while making you feel simultaneously attracted and repulsed by what you read.

One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen in reviews has been that the romance(s) felt forces, and the sex was terrible. I think that was the point, and if so, then I really, really appreciate it. It was so different from what I’m used to reading! The relationships are toxic and odd,  so… human. These four people are linked by blood, love, or by lust, and it ties them together in such a way that their lives depend on each other. It’s surreal and unusual. All in all, don’t come into this expecting a meet cute and romance, prepare to feel uncomfortable as heck.

The atmosphere is so macabre. I loved feeling dragged into this world, and the idea of goblins in the forest, stealing your iPhones, felt like a refreshing update on a tale as old as time. The challenges Livy faces at the end completely encompass the adventure of a fairy tale hero, and I love that the love of her sister brings her through.

So long as you’re willing to read a book that will leave you feeling icky and uncertain, then you should give this book a try. Do not go into it looking for romance: get ready for the disgusting side of magic, and especially, for the Goblins.

[alaydabug2]

This is more of hurt/comfort than anything else

But still angsty 😊

(Sophie pov)

Sophie sat nervously inside of Elwin's office along with the rest of her friends waiting for the news.

Well...all of her friends but one. He was the one lying on a cot in the main room of the Healing Center.

Keefe had severely gotten injured during their last battle, and they weren't sure if he was going to make it. Lady Giselle had finally gotten sick of him not cooperating with her, so she decided to take a dagger to his heart.

Sophie barely had enough time to get him to the Healing Center before his pulse had stopped. Elwin called Livy for backup and started to do CPR. They managed to get his pulse running again, but he'd been in critical condition since.

Even the elvin medicine on its own wasn't cutting it. Mr. Forkle had to bring in all sorts of machines and medical equipment for Keefe to be hooked up to.

Even at that, Elwin wasn't sure if it'd be enough. Keefe started making small noises and movements that morning, which Sophie immediately assumed was good news, but things aren't always that simple.

He eventually woke up, but he was mostly catatonic, still in his cott. His eyes blue eyes watching as people scrambled around him, checking the monitors on the screens and giving him medicines.

Sophie watched it from his bedside, squeezing his hand as hard as she could. She wasn't sure if he was aware of anything going on around him until his eyes shifted to meet hers and gave her hand the smallest twitch of his finger. Sophie started crying right then.

Now she was crying for a whole different reason. Elwin ushered everyone into his office to not overwhelm Keefe so soon after he woke up. He explained that even if he was awake, they were one arythmia from losing him. For good.

Elwin and Livy left to see if there was anything that could be done for him besides waiting it out and potentially losing him.

Now Sophie was sitting next to Grady and Edaline, tugging out what felt like half of her eyelashes. Edaline took her hand and waited for their gazes to meet.

"He's going to be ok," Edaline reassured her.

"But what if he's not," Sophie sniffled.

"He will be, I promise. He's a fighter. He won't give up that easily." She reached up to wipe a tear off her face.

Elwin finally came through the door, his expression grim. "Well, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first."

"Good news!" Everyone yelled.

"Ok. I might've found a way to help. But the problem is... the surgery is incredibly risky."

"We have to try it," Fitz pounded his fist on the armrest.

"I figured you guys would agree, but here's the thing," Elwin moved to lean against his desk. He tapped his pen on his clipboard of notes. "He only has a thirty percent chance of surviving the surgery. With the place the wound is. And by so many vital organs and arteries. It's just... not in his favor."

"What's the odds of him living if he doesn't get the surgery?" Sophie asked.

Elwin looked down at the clipboard again and closed his eyes. He took a big breath before saying, "Slim to none."

"Then it's a no-brainer. The surgery is a higher chance," Biana told him.

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Think of it this way. Would you rather pass away with people freaking out anxious about their next move or peacefully next to your friends and family."

"I don't know about you, but I would rather go down with a fight."

"Guys," Tam interrupted. "Don't you think Keefe should make this decision."

Elwin sighed. "You're right. I'll go give him his options and see what he says."

"Wait... I thought he was still out of it?" Sophie stood up.

"He's become more coherent. Still not very talkative, but he's capable of answering a few things."

After Elwin told Keefe his choices, Keefe sat quiet. Sophie almost thought he'd gone back into that coma-like state until he whispered, "I want to live." His voice was muffled and distorted due to the oxygen mask over his face.

"I know," Elwin told him. "We're trying our best. Does that mean...?"

Keefe had to take a couple of deep breaths before he was able to say, "I want to do the surgery." He looked up, and his eyes were glassy.

It was the day of Keefe's surgery, and Sophie leaned against the wall, tapping her foot. Keefe had asked if she could be there while he was falling asleep. So there she was while everyone waited outside the Healing Center.

Watching Elwin and Livy hook him up to dozens of wires and machines gave her horrid flashbacks of being nine years old at the hospital. She couldn't even begin to imagine how he was feeling, knowing he was about to get cut open and have his insides poked at.

Elwin waved her over. Everything was all set. She sat down in the roly stool and scooted as close as she could get to his cott. He reached for her hand, Sophie squeezed as tight as she could. He stared at their intertwined hands, which were shaking slightly.

He didn't say a word as Elwin put a bag onto his IV pole and attached it to another tube that led into a needle stuck in his wrist. Livy started to turn on the machine for the anesthetic. He looked up and murmured, "I'm scared."

Sophie's heart shattered into a billion pieces when she saw Keefe's tired, defeated, terrified look. His jaw trembled, and the tears in his eyes slipped down his face. He was so pale.

She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. The fact that he didn't seem to care worried her even more. She cupped his cheek and wiped one of the tears away with her thumb. He leaned into her touch.

"It's ok. You're going to be ok," she tried to promise him, but even she didn't believe the mock conviction in her voice.

He looked up at the heart monitor. The irregular beats of his heart filled the room. "What if I'm not?"

"Listen," she stroked his cheek. "You are so strong. You've got this."

"What if... I don't want to be strong anymore? What if I'm sick of always having to be strong?" He looked away. "What if I can't be strong?"

Sophie looked him dead in the eyes, without a hint of doubt, she told him, "Then we'll be strong for you."

He nodded, but more tears filled his eyes. She wiped them away. Livy turned up the anesthetic again. After about thirty seconds Keefe let out a groan. He struggled to keep his eyes open.

"I'm right here," she assured him. "You can sleep."

His head lolled off to the side. "I don't wanna sleep."

"I know, but you have to."

He whimpered as the anesthesia was turned up again. "I don't like how this feels, Foster."

Sophie nodded her agreement. "Sedatives really are the worst." She held his hand a little tighter.

Elwin had him lift his head as he pulled the oxygen mask over his face. Keefe closed his eyes.

"I love you, Sophie," he uttered.

Sophie wasn't sure if he was asleep or not by the time she kissed his forehead and whispered, "I love you too, Keefe," back, but his features seemed more relaxed.

Sophie anxiously paced the hallway that everyone was sitting in. This was the third time she'd gotten up. They'd been waiting for 8 hours. It was only supposed to be five!

The Healing Center door opened to find Elwin out of his scrubs, looking exhausted. He closed the door behind him and sat in a vacant seat. "Alright, we need to discuss some things." Sophie feared the worse. "There... were a few complications. Some excessive bleeding we weren't expecting, the wound damaging some vital parts, an artery being pinched, but," he looked up with a triumphant smile on his face, "he pulled through. He's expected to make a full recovery. It's going to be rather slow, but a recovery none the less. He's awake right now. Livy is taking care of him at the moment, and you can come see him in a few."

Sophie leaned her head against the wall and let out a relieved sob. Her boyfriend was going to be ok!

Livy poked her head out of the door. She turned to Elwin. "Keefe is freaking out at the moment. He's still pretty high off the anesthesia and not cooperating at all. He keeps asking for Sophie. Is that all right?"

Elwin pondered that for a moment. "Is everything that needs to be sterile done?"

"Just finished with his bandages. He's good to go. I'm just trying to finish up with giving him his medications and the rest of his post-op, but he keeps squirming and I don't want him to hurt himself while I'm working with a bunch of sharp pointy things."

"It should be fine then."

Livy nodded and waved Sophie into the room. Sophie got her first glimpse of him after the operation. His eyes were frantic, his head kept whipping around, tossing his oxygen tube all over the place. He didn't have the mask on anymore, though. Just one that went under the nose and into his nostrils.

Livy's eyes widened, and she rushed over to him. "No, no, no, Keefe! We've talked about this, quit playing with your IV."

Keefe let out the most heartbreaking whine Sophie had ever heard. One filled with agony and fear. He still seemed disorientated from the anesthesia.

Sophie hurried over. "Is he in pain?"

Livy nodded. "He's on the good drugs right now, but he just came out of a major surgery, so it's inevitable. Here, make sure he doesn't try to tear his IV or oxygen mask out again. I'm going to go grab the syringe. He still needs a few more medicines." She went off the the other side of the room

Sophie, ever so carefully, wrapped her arms around his neck. He let out a breathy whimper and curled his arms around her. "I'm right here," she promised. "Just like I said I'd be." He buried his face into her shoulder.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw Livy standing with a needle. She knew what she wanted her to do, and Livy looked pretty guilty about it. Still, Sophie intertwined her and Keefe's fingers together. He relaxed in her grasp, which made it worse when Livy took the needle to his arm and injected the medication into his shoulder. Keefe let out a helpless yelp. He tried to squirm, but the way Sophie held him made it near impossible.

"It's ok," Sophie reassured him after when she saw the tears in his eyes.

Sophie held his hand through the next forty-five minutes as he finally started to sober up. He looked up and her and rasped, "How bad?"

"The surgery?" She asked.

He shook his head. He looked down and tried to get a look at the bandages dressing the inscition.

"Oh. The scar?"

"Yeah. How bad will it be."

"I'm not sure. But you're not insecure about, are you?"

He shrugged.

"Don't be." She slid her hand over the gauze covering his wound underneath his soft tunic. It was a few sizes too big so as not to irritate his stitches. "You earned that. It's your trophy for being so tough. I hear all the girls love tough guys. Especially with scars," she teased

"Yeah, well, I don't need any girls. I've already got one, thank you very much." The corners of his smile returned, and Sophie was so grateful to see it.

Sophie bent down and kissed his chapped lips. When she pulled away, his cheeks were tinted with pink. "I'm so proud of you, by the way. But, how are you feeling?"

He gave her a half grimace half smirk. "Really sore. Not gonna lie, I'm really missing those drugs right about now."

"I'm sorry." She lighty pressed her fingers against the left side of his chest. Under the tunic, Sophie was able to feel the soft pumping of his heart. It was in sync with the heart monitor beside the cott. She rested her forehead against his and let out a sigh. "I'm so glad you're ok. I was so worried about you."

Keefe smiled back at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but a yawn came out instead. He winced and rubbed his chest.

Sophie pulled away. "You get some rest. Your body really needs it right now." She traced the dark circles underneath his ice blue eyes. "If you need to wait to see the others, that's completely fine. Just worry about taking care of yourself and recovering right now."

He nodded and yawned again. "Stay with me?"

"Of course." She knelt by the cott and layed her head on the mattress next to the pillow. She reached over and grabbed his hand with one of her hands, gently stroking his knuckles with her thumb. With her other hand, she stroked his head. "I'll be right here when you wake up." He nodded

Soon, his breathing and his heart rate on the monitor slowed, and he was in a restful sleep.

[facecastsofcutandrun]

Livi Stanton Grady, Armed & Dangerous

First Appearance:

Livi was a beautiful girl, possibly less so just then since Ty could see two of her. She had intelligent robin’s-egg-blue eyes and hair so blonde it seemed white when the sun hit it. She was lithe and athletic, everything Ty thought a yoga instructor would probably be. She also led with her shoulder when she opened a door.

A&D, page 251

[lucky13-452]

A contemporary romance inspired by Christina Rossetti's eerie, sensual poem, "Goblin Market." Four neighbors encounter sinister enchantments and a magical path to love in a small, modern-day Puget Sound town, where a fae realm hides in the woods and waters... Most people have no idea goblins live in the woods around the small town of Bellwater, Washington. But some are about to find out. Skye, a young barista and artist, falls victim to a goblin curse in the forest one winter night, rendering her depressed and silenced, unable to speak of what happened. Her older sister, Livy, is at wit’s end trying to understand what’s wrong with her. Local mechanic Kit would know, but he doesn’t talk of such things: he’s the human liaison for the goblin tribe, a job he keeps secret and never wanted, thrust on him by an ancient family contract. Unaware of what’s happened to Skye, Kit starts dating Livy, trying to keep it casual to protect her from the attention of the goblins. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Kit, Skye draws his cousin Grady into the spell through an enchanted kiss in the woods, dooming Grady and Skye both to become goblins and disappear from humankind forever. It’s a midwinter night’s enchantment as Livy, the only one untainted by a spell, sets out to save them on a dangerous magical path of her own.

Note: I requested this book from NetGalley and they were kindly enough to send me a copy.

I loved The Goblins of Bellwater. I grew up on Jim Henson's Labyrinth, I love the movie about the Goblin King and ever since then I guess you can say I became a supernatural geek. I love the supernatural, I watch movies, tv series and of course books all with supernatural themes. Through out the years I never really found anything else about goblins which was sad because of how much I loved the movie. Then Molly Ringle wrote The Goblins of Bellwater and I found my happy place. Goblins have come to the island of Bellwater and have taken over. Not only do they steal things (or should I say steal them vicariously *cough* Kit) but they curse people and sometimes take them. This story revolves around Kit, Livy, Skye and Grady, four people who have gotten into goblin trouble and have to fight to find happiness again, to free themselves from the goblins. Skye is an amazing character she is such a happy and bubbly person who has an artist's nature then she is cursed by the goblins and everything changes. Molly had to transform some who is such a happy person, who sees the world in art, into someone who seems depressed and alone. Molly pulled this off so amazingly well. She was able to get me to understand that Skye was still Skye just altered, you can tell she is who she is underneath the spell. I so think that this mirrors depression and does a good job in describing someone who is depressed which isn't really shown in these types of books. The relationship between Skye and Livy reminds me of me and my sister. They are really close and take care of each other. Livy could help but notice something was wrong with Skye and wanted to take care of her. Livy has that take care of nature which came across the page really well. What amazed me was what a bad ass Livy turned out to be, she was the unlikely hero of the story. She did some amazing things all for her. Molly wrote a wonderful tale that weaves our world with another so seamlessly with the supernatural. The story flowed and kept my interest with vivid scenes and the new adult themes in the story, this book is most definitely for an older audience . The Goblins of Bellwater had magic, adventure, romance, curses, supernatural creatures, a faerie war and  more.

Overall 4.5 stars

[jorammiireads]

The Goblins of Bellwater

By Molly Ringle

A fascinating and compelling novel based off of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” which is being rediscovered in several new forms and I love it.

Rating: 4/5

This urban-magical realism is perfectly done. The fae folk are all around us, including Bellwater, a small town off of Puget Sound. There, a goblin tribe frequently sets off magical trails to lure unsuspecting humans traipsing through the forest. Kit's family has been cursed to serve as the liaison for the goblin and he begrudgingly hands over gold every month to try to placate them from hurting another human. He's been worn down from keeping the secret for so long. When he mets Livy, a local park ranger and fellow nature-lover, they immediately hit it off. It seems like the beginning of a romance novel except that Livy's younger sister is under a goblin spell and has accidentally brought Kit's younger cousin in it too. Now all four of them will have to fight to get free from the goblin's magic.

What I Liked:

-The magical realism. It's so odd to read about magical realism in a setting that is not the (US) South, but it works. There are elements of nature and fae folk and humans living alongside them without even knowing.

-The romance. I really enjoyed reading about Livy and Kit fall for each other based on mutual interests and genuinely liking each other. It was a great contrast to Skye and Grady's enchanted romance. I'm not a fan of insta-love, but enchanted insta-love is fascinating. I think their relationship was handled pretty well considering the spell and the consequences of their actions were talked over instead of pretending that falling in love (and sleeping with each other) under a spell wasn't exactly consensual. [PS I also liked that both Livy and Skye were older than their dates because it's addressed and is also not a big deal, even though we never see relationships with older women]

-I really enjoyed the gray morality of this book. The goblins weren't truly evil, they were much more complex. None of this is used to excuse their horrific behavior, but it's nice to read about how they came to be how they are instead of letting them become the archetype evil monster. I like that to an extent the goblins have agency in their actions and reactions, but from much of what we were able to gather, being terrible comes with being a goblin.

Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing Publication date: October 1, 2017 Date read: July 3, 2017

[larchwood]

Ty & Zane headcanon (Women’s March edition)

Mara Grady ABSOLUTELY knits a gazillon pussy hats before the march .  

She, Emily Grady, Deuce, Livi and Amelia Grady all head to Baltimore to march there.

Ty goes with the Grady women to march - both to support the cause in general and to just be there in case things get out of hand.  BUT - Ty is all Nick Offerman about it - 

(Can’t you just see Ty being Nick Offerman in this scenerio????)

Because of the walking, Deuce hangs back at the bookstore with Zane, where they’ve set up a coffee/hot chocolate stand outside the store for any participants.  (Plus, they give out any extra pussy hats that Mara made.)  (For the sake of this story, let’s just ignore that the Baltimore march was about 5 miles away from Fells Point.)

Zane also has marked down all feminist/women’s history/LGBTQA/PoC history etc books by 25%.  (Plus, you get another 15% off any purchase if you’re wearing a hat or some other proof of being at the march.)

He also sets aside a time and space in the store the following week to host the 1st Action of the follow up campaign (postcard writing to elected officials).